United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes is excited to announce that its newest endeavour in food security work is paying off in a big way- 1,046 pounds worth, to be exact! Edwin Binney’s Community Garden is the name of the new endeavour: it is 30,000 square feet of Crayola Canada’s previously unused land that United Way and Fleming College staff have developed into a fully operational community garden. The garden is maintained by staff from both United Way for the City of Kawartha  Lakes and Fleming College’s Sustainable Agriculture program, as well as several volunteers from Crayola Canada, Farm Credit Canada, and the community.

In just two months since its Grand Opening, staff and volunteers at Edwin Binney’s Community Garden have: planted and maintained 30,000 square feet of land plus twenty-four colourful raised garden beds; set up an innovative and sustainable irrigation system; hosted educational workshops for kids ranging from 3 to 17 years old; and harvested and donated 1,046 pounds of fresh vegetables to local agencies such as food banks, shelters, the Good Food Box, and kids programming agencies.

The work is far from over! “1,046 pounds of vegetables is a huge milestone for us, and we are so excited to share this news with the community,” said Elly Millington, Projects and Communications Coordinator at United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes. “The excitement doesn’t end here for us this summer; we are only just getting started with the harvest and are putting out a call for more volunteers to help with our first annual fall harvest. If you enjoy spending time outside and want to get your hands dirty while helping your community, we want to meet you!”

Anyone interested in volunteering their time to help with a worthy and innovative cause should contact the United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes office at 705-878-5081 or fill out the volunteer form here.