Katie's Community Garden at the Bridge Church hosted its grand opening on Monday.
The garden is a collaborative effort between FARMily, the Katie Grace Foundation, Bridge Church, and the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows.
Light breakfast and refreshments were served as the community was invited to walk and explore the garden.
The garden is named after Katie Weingartner, a bright, local young girl who tragically lost her life in 2017 at the young age of 15.
Katie was passionate about finding solutions to the food security problem facing Reno's homeless population.
Katie's Community Garden is an educational site where youth are taught sustainable farming methods, and community members can learn social and emotional skills through regenerative agriculture.
"We are thrilled to be able to have this space to educate our members and allow them space to learn about sustainable farming in a safe, beautiful community garden," said Mike Wurm, CEO and President of the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows. "A lot of our members' first experiences in a garden are at our Club with programs through FARMily. Having this space is something our community will appreciate for years to come."
The garden is FARMily's largest site, utilizing over an acre of growing space.
Beyond being an educational site, Katie's Community Garden is a production garden where organic, healthy food is grown and distributed in the community.
"Katie's Garden is the perfect example of the beauty that is created when many people and entities come together to serve the community," said Rebekah Stetson, CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer) of FARMily. "The garden is an oasis where hundreds of kids learn valuable life skills like teamwork, responsible decision-making, nutrition, and self-awareness. It also shows them the importance of and how much work goes into getting food from the garden to their table. The fruits of their labor, hundreds of pounds of the organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs that they help grow, are gifted to food insecure neighbors through the food pantry at The Bridge Church and the kids even take some of the harvest home to their families!"
For more information about Katies Community Garden, you can visit FARMily Organic Farms - Home (ourfarmily.org)
