Rotary Club of Monterey Park has received a matching grant of $1,500 from Rotary District 5300 to establish a community garden at the Repetto School in Monterey Park. Saturday, March 2nd from 8:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. Rotarians and Mark Keppel Interacters will help the staff and interested members of the public prepare the land with a sprinkler system, install planters and plant the first vegetables. Rotary Club of Monterey Park wants to use the garden to teach children the importance and uses of plant life and how fruits and vegetables are instrumental in a comprehensive health plan. Every child that goes through the Gardening Program will learn how to utilize the land, and the accompanying produce that is grown, and foster a sense of self empowerment and achievement for the young people. The community garden will help Repetto School in their campaign to promote quality-eating habits. The goals of this program will be to teach youth and teens that gardening, though at times tedious and long range in terms of returns, can be fun and extremely rewarding. Gardening captures a child’s interest and we hope to teach them nurturing skills, give them a sense of pride in their accomplishments and introduce them to healthy foods. The yield from the garden will be given to the community food bank and will be for sale at the local farmers’ market. The project will show parents how to have their own home gardens.

For further information contact Monterey Park Rotary President David Anantasin (213) 268-5911 or E-mail him at info@montereyparkrotary.org.

Rotary International is the oldest service organization in the world. For information on serving your local community through the Monterey Park Rotary, check

http://montereyparkrotary.org/. Monterey Park Rotary usually meets every Thursday at 12:15 P.M. at Capital Seafood, 755 W. Garvey Avenue, Monterey Park. For more information on Rotary International and clubs in other communities see http://www.rotary.org/EN/ABOUTUS/Pages/ridefault.aspx.

#                      #                      #