In Newton, students, teachers cultivate gardens, relationships

By Laurie Gordon
NEWTON — Anthony Mack has done this before. For the past two years, he's missed a day of school to volunteer to help others by helping plant and cultivate the community gardens at the Project Self-Sufficiency campus in Newton.
“This is a great day,” the Blair Academy senior said. “It's great to give back to the community and pitch in and help.” Mack will attend the University of Wyoming where he'll play basketball in the fall.
Over 100 students from Blair Academy joined community residents for a Day of Service at Project Self-Sufficiency on Friday, May 19.
This marked the fourth year in a row that the private school has teamed up with adult volunteers to work on the grounds. In addition, bilingual students even hosted a Latino festival for Spanish-speaking Project Self-Sufficiency participants.
The students assisted community volunteers with planting vegetables, potting flowers, painting picnic tables, spreading mulch and working on other maintenance projects.
By the end of the day, a new garden had been created, a total of seven community gardens had been planted, and over 100 pots of tomato plants and cumber plants, as well as 50 pots of flowers were distributed around the campus.
The gardens will provide fresh vegetables to the agency’s low-income clientele and developmentally disabled adults selected by SCARC and Abilities of Northwest Jersey.
Volunteers overseen by the Sussex County Master Gardeners from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension program will care for the gardens well into the autumn.
“I think this is great, and I'll be doing this all four of my years at Blair,” said freshman Aidan Riano. Riano took the day very seriously, even donning a sun hat and overalls.
“I think it's fantastic to give back to the community with projects like this, and this is definitely a great organization,” he said of Project Self-Sufficiency. Riano is a distance runner for Blair's cross countyr and track teams.
This is the fourth year that Blair Academy has set aside a day for coordinated community service efforts, and Head of School Chris Fortunato noted that the Day of Service builds upon the School’s tradition of giving back.
Approximately 400 Blair Academy students volunteered at nearly 20 nonprofit organizations across the region.
“The Day of Service gives the Blair community the opportunity to get involved in the important work of service organizations right here in our own backyard,” he said. “We are all privileged to be part of the Blair community, and with that privilege comes a responsibility to be good to our neighbors and to build stronger connections across our campus and beyond.”
Continuing a tradition initiated last year, a Latino festival was hosted by Project Self-Sufficiency on the same day as the Blair Academy Day of Service, allowing bilingual students from Blair Academy to join in the fun.
Local families enjoyed Latino music, games, food, stories and other activities, and assisted with the planting of a special garden for herbs used in traditional Latino foods.
“We are humbled by the efforts of the student volunteers from Blair Academy and our friends in the community who have come together today to help to address Project Self-Sufficiency’s needs in a meaningful, long-lasting way,” said Deborah Berry-Toon, executive director of Project Self-Sufficiency. “The maintenance projects completed by the volunteers have beautified our campus and the vegetables produced by the community gardens will help to alleviate the food insecurity faced by many Sussex County residents during the summer months.”
Project Self-Sufficiency is a private nonprofit community-based organization dedicated to improving the lives of low-income families residing in northwestern New Jersey.