Lawrenceville YMCA celebrates new community garden

YMCA of Metro Atlanta representatives and other community members gathered on Wednesday, Oct. 12 to celebrate the opening of a new community garden at the J. M. Tull Gwinnett Family YMCA in Lawrenceville. COURTESY YMCA OF METRO ATLANTA

Credit: custom

Credit: custom

YMCA of Metro Atlanta representatives and other community members gathered on Wednesday, Oct. 12 to celebrate the opening of a new community garden at the J. M. Tull Gwinnett Family YMCA in Lawrenceville. COURTESY YMCA OF METRO ATLANTA

The J.M. Tull-Gwinnett Family YMCA recently unveiled a new community garden at 2985 Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville. The planting spaces are available to YMCA of Metro Atlanta members and the greater community.

The garden contains 37 individual boxes that will supply seasonal produce, including numerous vegetables such as lettuce, mustard greens, kale and broccoli.

The YMCA will use 10 of the boxes to educate youth about the garden-to-plate lifecycle. The remaining 27 boxes are available for community members to rent. Y members can secure a box for $35 and nonmember spaces are available for $45.

“We’re thrilled to provide our community with this garden to help individuals and families better understand the lifecycle of food,” said Collette Cosby, executive director of the J.M. Tull-Gwinnett Family YMCA in a statement. “This addition to our facility will help expand our programs to include gardening and outdoor youth and adult yoga classes.”

This community garden is made possible by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation Food Oasis grant program, which states its mission is to support “clever innovation and scalable solutions that change food futures for Georgia kids and families, especially those most impacted by the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The grant program includes more than $2 million in grants to 23 organizations.