Community Sprouts: Girard Environmental Services Donates Landscaping Children’s Outdoor Garden Classroom

By Doreen Overstreet, Costa DeVault

Stone pathway that Girard Environmental Services installed at the Midway Safe Harbor Center garden.

The 10,000-sq.-ft. outdoor garden classroom couldn’t have blossomed without the community’s help. That’s why Girard Environmental Services, a Florida-based commercial construction and high-end landscaping firm, recently stepped up to the plate and donated landscaping, installed irrigation systems, stone pavers, and provided arbor and landscaping labor to the garden.

Community gardens have been sprouting up everywhere, even in the White House’s backyard. Pat Cucci, executive director of the Midway Safe Harbor Center in Sanford, Fla., was ahead of the trend when he began planning a community garden for the community center’s after-school program in early 2008. The year round program provides at-risk children in the area an opportunity to learn about horticulture, gardening, nutrition and wellness through an integrated holistic approach. Students engage in various classroom activities and then use technology in the computer lab to research, investigate and report what they have learned.

Alan Wing (left), vice president of operations at Girard Environmental Services with Pat Cucci, executive director of Midway Safe Harbor Center – at the Midway Safe Harbor Garden.

Girard planted confederate jasmine, viburnum odo and cypress mulch, and created a 35-ft. flat-rocked stone pathway. The team also cleared overgrown trees that were blocking the garden’s sunlight and provided full irrigation coverage.

Community organizations such as the Lowe’s Foundation, The Foundation for Seminole County Public Schools and Wharton-Smith Construction had previously helped start the garden program, so Girard was happy to help continue to plant the seeds of support. “The landscaping construction that Girard donated is priceless because it helps us maintain our garden project,” said Cucci. “The much needed landscaping, construction of pathways and irrigation ensured that we could grow produce this summer.”

A Girard employee cuts down a pine tree at Midway’s Safe Harbor community garden. Girard trimmed and cut trees in the garden in order to provide optimal vegetation growth.

Planting, Growing and Learning

Nearly 180 students work on Midway Safe Harbor Center’s garden throughout the year growing everything from onions and corn to pineapples and red peppers. As planting, growing and learning continue at the center, students even prepare meals using produce from the garden. “The benefits of the community garden go well beyond cultivating produce,” added Cucci.

The Girard team is looking forward to teaching horticulture classes to Midway children and continuing a long-term partnership. In-kind donations of landscape construction services for non-profits go such a long way in tough economic times. At Girard, we believe it’s an ideal time for landscape construction firms to showcase their community commitment by donating services to worthy causes.”