Source: Observer & Eccentric Media

Author: Editor Submission

St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center helps children and adults with its free, personalized education programs, and now is getting help of its own from Mercy High School.

As part of Mercy’s Make a Difference Day, students, parents and staff recently started winterizing SVSF’s Children’s Urban Garden for next year. The Children’s Urban Garden is a spring and summer project, which teaches children who attend SVSF’s free, tutoring program how to plant and grow vegetables. The garden helps students to apply math, reading and writing skills by giving the students an opportunity for hands on activities such as measuring and recording growth observations.

The garden also is a tool to help the children learn about nutrition and healthy eating.

Grown in the garden this past season was spinach, kale, collard greens, tomatoes, herbs and more.

“As the children return to school, we need help preparing our garden area for next spring,” said Beth Kraft, SVSF’s director of volunteers. “We are so grateful to Mercy High School students, who understand that Fall Clean-up is an important task and they are always happy to step up for our Children’s Program.”

“We teach our students that the spirit of Mercy High School is to serve our God, our friends and our community,” said Judi Griggs-Dennis, the school’s pastoral minister and service learning coordinator.

Besides work at SVSF, Mercy celebrated Make a Difference Day at 28 other organizations. In total, 900 students, staff and parents participated.