Heart BEAT

Green Thumbs And Kids Wanted

WAITSBURG -- Rural Green Youth Enterprises, a Waitsburg non-profit focused on giving local teens entrepreneurial skills and focusing on whole, local food and green living, is looking for more volunteers and kids to expand its gardening operation this summer.

The organization was created three years ago with the goal of providing our local teens with more activities to do in town, said Kathy Carpenter, the group's treasurer. Local moms and dads wanted to see more recreation activities for kids that would encompass many aspects of life, including music, volunteerism and whole foods.

The organization is designed to serve local youth in Waitsburg, Prescott, Dayton and Dixie and accepts teens ages 12 to 22.

With all of the ideas in the community about how to keep our kids active, the leadership of the group settled on gardening. Since its inception, local teens have been growing their own produce on land near McGregor's and selling it for profit. Carpenter said this year they want to take the gardening idea farther and continue to develop the organization.

The leadership is looking for more teens and adult volunteers to help grow the gardening operation so each teen and even local families can garden raised beds on the land near McGregor's. The teens and families can eat and sell the food they grow in their raised garden beds. They plan to continue to grow pumpkins again this year, as well.

Carpenter said now there's about five to eight teens who come to the weekly meetings Thursday nights at 7 and they would like to get more on board.

"We're a little bit in flux, but we're not defunct," Carpenter said.

She would also like to invite anyone in the community who likes to garden to volunteer to teach teens skills they can use for a lifetime.

The teens benefit greatly from the mentoring through the group's leadership and they learn skills they will need to be successful employees including marketing and planning, Carpenter added.

The garden will need daily watering this summer and many hands will make for light work, Carpenter said. If more people can volunteer their time, they can really spread the work out.

The organization has about $4,000 in the bank and she's hoping to get all of the raised garden bed materials donated or at a low, discounted price so it won't cost the kids and local families much to start the gardens.

And if the teens have more veggies than they can sell, it is one of Carpenter's goals to take that fresh produce to the Waitsburg Resource Center for needy families.

In addition to adding more to the garden, she said the teens involved could be making snow cones or roasting peanuts to sell at local festivals this summer. The kids have already learned how to make snow cone syrup with fresh ingredients, Carpenter said.

Like learning how to make snow cone syrup from fresh ingredients, the organization uses the First Fruits Program through the Blue Mountain Community Foundation that focuses on getting teens to grow and eat fruits and veggies they may not have eaten before, she said.

"They learn about real, fresh vegetables and how good that tastes," Carpenter said.

And during the wintertime when the focus isn't gardening, the organization would like to add making and selling antique-style, wooden toys to the list of skills.

And when the teens aren't selling items, they can be working on marketing plans, using video production or simply having art and music nights.

"Just get in and express (yourself)," Carpenter said. "You don't have to be good."

And Rural Green Youth Enterprises doesn't just benefit our teens. Our parents and volunteers who spend their time with the organization benefit tremendously, Carpenter said. Everyone has a skill or hobby they are very passionate about and teaching teens these skills will make sure that activities like embroidery, woodworking, knitting, crocheting or folk music are enjoyed by future generations.

"You get to pass on that skill and love of the activity to youth," she said.

Also, being involved in the group is a perfect way to spend time with your kids and find out who they are hanging out with.

"It's a great way to connect with your kids and their friends," Carpenter said.

To volunteer or attend weekly meetings, call 509- 337-6131 for more information.