Elected officials and members of the Bergen County community were on hand for the opening of an organic garden on the grounds of the Bergen County Homeless Shelter in Hackensack earlier this month.
Freeholder Tracy Zur said she pushed to make the garden a reality to provide therapeutic value, vocational training, wellness education and nutritional support for the residents of the Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services Center.
The food grown in the garden will supplement meals in the shelter but the residents involvement in nurturing the garden and watching their efforts bear fruit will be the most powerful impact of this program, according to a spokesperson.
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The project was made possible by a $2,000 grant from Wal-Mart towards construction costs. City Green, a nonprofit group, built the garden beds. The soil that was used for the gardens was donated by the Township of Mahwah. Members of Rutgers University’s Master Gardener Program worked with the residents of the shelter on the actual planting.
Seen in the above photo, from left to right: Jennifer Papa, County Executive Kathleen Donovan, Keith Kalyka, Housing Authority Commissioner Steven Kopf, Freeholder Tracy Zur, Housing Authority Chairman Bruce Walenczyk, Donald Mayfield, Housing Health and Human Services Center Director Julia Orlando, Freeholder Joan Voss, Freeholder John Felice, Mahwah Mayor William Laforet, Freeholder John Mitchell, Hackensack Councilwoman Kathleen Canestrino, Hackensack Mayor John LaBrosse
Seen in the above photo, from left to right: Jennifer Papa, County Executive Kathleen Donovan, Keith Kalyka, Housing Authority Commissioner Steven Kopf, Freeholder Tracy Zur, Housing Authority Chairman Bruce Walenczyk, Donald Mayfield, Housing Health and Human Services Center Director Julia Orlando, Freeholder Joan Voss, Freeholder John Felice, Mahwah Mayor William Laforet, Freeholder John Mitchell, Hackensack Councilwoman Kathleen Canestrino, Hackensack Mayor John LaBrosse
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