Largest Troop Collaboration Will Benefit Cranford Family Cares.
Several Girl Scout troops of Cranford (48) have come together to create a vegetable garden that will provide healthy options to those in need throughout the community. The garden is a result of the “Sow What?” Girl Scout Leadership Journey for Senior Level troops in 9th and 10th grade. The Journeys encourage girls to learn about environmental topics such as clean water and air, noise pollution, global warming, soil contamination, and agricultural processes. Each Journey is packed with current environmental information and offers ways to improve life for everyone on the planet. Sow What? is all about food: how and where it’s grown, harvested, processed, distributed, and consumed, and why it matters. Seniors share their knowledge, inspire others to eat locally, and plan a community vegetable garden.
The project, which was started in the Fall of 2016, is a massive collaboration between Senior troops from Cranford High School, Mt. Saint Mary’s, Roselle Catholic and Abraham Clark High in Roselle.
With 25 scouts in all, troops 40004, 40050, 40229, and 40113 researched the importance of healthy foods by touring Dreyer Farms where Jessica Dreyer helped to educate the young ladies on how a local farm works to provide its community with healthy produce. The troops also visited ACME in Kenilworth to fully understand the Journey.
“We are extremely proud of what these ladies have accomplished throughout this Journey. Not only will the garden provide fresh vegetables to local organizations, but it will also help to teach others what we have learned about the importance of the food we eat”, said Anne Caldwell, Senior Advisor for Senior Troop 40229.
The garden, located at the United Methodist Church in Cranford, will provide vegetables and herbs to Cranford Family Cares. The troop members are also working on a recipe book filled with healthy meals that incorporate the produce grown at the garden. The young ladies hope to engage other Girl Scout troops to take part in the watering and collecting of produce during the late Spring and early Summer months. The Girl Scouts would also like to thank Carl’s Landscaping of Cranford for providing garden materials and an extra hand with constructing the garden itself.The Girl Scouts of Cranford boasts over 1,139 Girl Scout Members in 67 troops and Juliette’s making it one of the largest non-profit organizations in town. The Cranford Service Unit is a part of the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) Council which is part of the Girl Scouts of the USA. If your family is interested in learning more about local Girl Scouts or to find out more information on the Girls Scouts of Cranford, please visit www.cranfordgirlscouts.com
