Thursday, May 23, 2019

The Giving Garden


Our club's first and longest running project is The Giving Garden. This is a partnership between the Rotary Club of Seaford, Aldinga Beach B-7 School, Aldinga Beach Children's Centre, The City of Onkaparinga and the Aldinga Beach Community.
For many years this space was a disused reserve on Evans Street at Aldinga Beach, adjacent to the school, Rotarian Lauren Jew, who at the time worked at the Children's Centre, recognised the opportunity to give the reserve a makeover and applied for a street-scaping grant from the City of Onkaparinga. The application was successful, and the work began in earnest. 

Lauren put the call out for volunteers to help create and maintain a community garden, and the Rotary Club of Seaford took it on as our first hands-on project.
The Giving Garden was officially opened on March 15, 2017.

The next major project for our club was to construct a paved path through the garden. In winter months the path can get muddy, and we figured a paved path would make for easier access, and also more wheelchair friendly. 

In order to raise the necessary funds for the construction, our club sold engraved pavers to local individuals and businesses.

A big vote of thanks to the City of Onkaparinga, who provided a bobcat and operator to excavate the trench, saving many hours of back breaking work. Thanks also to Aldinga Landscape Supplies for donating rubble and paving sand, Reece Plumbing Seaford who donated ten bags of cement, and Total Outdoor Living for generously donating the grey concrete pavers. All red brick pavers on the edges were donated by local families and collected by members. 

The construction process took two full days, with many Rotarians and their family and friends participating. Also joining the effort were a number of local residents and members of the school and children's centre community. The Rotary Club of Seaford places a high priority on hands-on service projects. Our members love to get out in the fresh air and use their elbow grease. We make sure we're visible in the community and we love it when family and friends join in.

Our work continues at The Giving Garden. Regular working bees are planned to complete garding work such as mulching, weeding, planting and pruning. There is also regular maintenance work carried out on equipment and furniture. 

We often hold informal meetings at the conclusion of our working bees that replace regular club meetings. 

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