The Nest Children’s Home in Kingston recently received a beautiful veggie garden as a gift. The representatives said this is something they wanted for a while.
On National Children’s Day on May 21st, the children who live there got a garden gift from the Government through the Backyard Veggie Gardens in RCCFs initiative.
The home got the first packages to launch their garden, following the start of the initiative designed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the CPFSA.
The Children & Staff Were Really Excited for the Garden
Hon. Floyd Green, the portfolio minister, Robert Morgan, State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information, and Rosalee Gage-Grey, CEO of the Child Protection & Family Services Agency began the process by planting the crops together with the kids who reside there.
The Administrator of the Home, Karen Haughton, explained the wards were really excited that their home was picked as the first facility to get the gardening packages under this project.
This veggie garden, Haughton believes, will reduce some of the costs related with providing food for the kids and added that the wards are happy to participate in the gardening.
Mrs. Haughton added that last year, after they used their pumpkin, they gave them the seeds and reaped maybe more than two dozen pumpkins.
So, when she heard of the project, she told them there’s a chance that the gardening will continue.
Farming Will Now Become a Responsibility of the Wards
Mrs. Haughton told media that the farming will now be an added responsibility to the 21 wards who care for the children and the home located on the Salvation Army grounds in Kingston.
She believes it’s an exciting project and apart from their duties in the morning, they will nurture fresh produce and she adds that some of them already love it.
For Keith Haughton, also an administrator in the home, a veggie garden is something they’ve wanted for a while now to drop their food-related costs. At least, now they’ll have some food to produce in their home without having to buy.
It will be freshly served on the table.
Teaching Children a very Important Message
Mrs. Gage-Grey explains that the goal of this project is to motivate these homes to grow their food supplies and teach young generations to consume what they grow.
They love the fact that the kids are interested in contributing for the food in their facility. Their ultimate goal is to teach them how to grow food and encourage them to follow a healthy diet.
Wards will also learn more about the importance of food security. Children will also appreciate it more and learn where food comes from and what their role in growing it is.
Other 10 homes will also get their veggie garden supplies soon.
For State Minister Morgan, children will also reap therapeutic benefits from gardening; unfortunately, some of them have a serious trauma and psychologists explain that playing with animals and doing gardening will help them feel better about themselves and they’ll have something to look forward to.
That’s the major advantage of gardening, he emphasized.
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