Mainstreet Community Starts New Eco-friendly Garden

The Mainstreet community recently broke ground for a eco-friendly garden for its residents.  Twenty volunteers from the Suntrust Bank along with ArborServ, a tree service company located in Lithonia, were on hand and helped with the initial clearing that took place on April 7th.

The Mainstreet Community Services Association, Inc. has partnered with the Atlanta Food Bank for the garden project.  “Mainstreet homeowners can lease the land for an annual fee of $50.00.  Ten percent of what they grow will be donated to the Atlanta Food Bank, but everything else will be theirs”, said Nadine Rivers-Johnson, Community Association Administrator for the Mainstreet Community Association.

Rivers-Johnson shared that the idea for the garden project developed when council members of the association applied for a grant with the Captain Planet Foundation.  According to their website, The Captain Planet Foundation supports and funds environmental programs for children and youths. “We got the grant for a commemorative garden, but the foundation also provided us with information on how we could partner with The Atlanta Food Bank and start our own community garden”, said Rivers-Johnson. 

Rivers-Johnson also shared that other groups in the community have expressed an interest in participating with the community garden project.  “The Soul Factory, a local church in the Stone Mountain area, will lease twenty-five of the available plots to grow produce for their church food pantry program”, said Rivers-Johnson.

The Mainstreet Community Garden will do a ribbon cutting in late August and start fall planting in early September.  For information about leasing a garden plot, call 770.469.7238 or visit their website at www.mainstreetcommunity.org.