Sowing seeds of opportunity with a click
Lead Summary
By
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By PAT LAWRENCE
An apple a day is good, but an entire orchard would be outstanding. The possibility of a fully funded orchard for Turning Point Learning Center could quickly turn to reality with just a little effort, and LuAnn Winkle is hoping that effort will bear some serious fruit for Highland County. Turning Point Learning Center is one of 120 organizations in the national “Communities Take Root” competition sponsored by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation in partnership with Edy's Fruit Bars.
Last year, 25 neighborhoods received a public orchard after the competition. This year, twenty organizations will receive trees, the assistance of a professional arborist plus the necessary tools and equipment needed to plant and care for the orchard.
Winkle, Executive Director of Turning Point, says, “They'll even provide shovels and wheelbarrows. It's an amazing, exciting, very real possibility that we could win an entire orchard of apples, peaches and berries for our community. The orchard would give our at-risk youngsters an incredible learning experience and employment training plus provide fresh fruit for our local food pantries. All it will cost us is the votes of our friends and neighbors online.”
With over two acres of fenced land, an irrigation system already in place, and a beehive for pollinators, Turning Point is well positioned to receive the grant. “There are 11 Ohio organizations participating; but we're the only one in Highland County. Several of them are in Cleveland and bigger population centers, but we can still win. They'll choose the ones that have the most likely chance of success. Everyone can vote every day. We need all of our friends, and all of their friends, to vote online. It's free for us, but it could have an incredible return,” Winkle says.
The existing garden at Turning Point provides employment training and skill development for returning and diverted offenders, at-risk youth and disadvantaged persons seeking to move from economic dependence to self-sufficiency. Each summer, trainees in the Turning Point program cultivate a garden that provides a variety of fresh nutritious vegetables to area homeless shelters, food pantries and needy families.
Trainees, in turn, learn skills in horticulture, beekeeping, agronomy, pest management, machine operation, and customer service.
According to Winkle, “By expanding the existing garden to include an orchard, Turning Point can increase the employability skills of its trainees, expand our donated to include fresh fruit, and develop a sense of civic responsibility in our program participants. This is a great way to give back to the community.”
Voting began April 15 and will continue through September. The first five winners will be announced on June 1 with five additional winners chosen in July, August and September. Jill Parr, a Criminal Justice intern doing her internship at Turning Point is going to be helping with the campaign.
Parr says, “We just want everyone to visit CommunitiesTakeRoot.com and vote, as often as they can. What Edy's and the Fruit Tree Foundation hope to accomplish is to help communities blossom, one orchard at a time. It can be our community; we can make it happen.”
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An apple a day is good, but an entire orchard would be outstanding. The possibility of a fully funded orchard for Turning Point Learning Center could quickly turn to reality with just a little effort, and LuAnn Winkle is hoping that effort will bear some serious fruit for Highland County. Turning Point Learning Center is one of 120 organizations in the national “Communities Take Root” competition sponsored by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation in partnership with Edy's Fruit Bars.
Last year, 25 neighborhoods received a public orchard after the competition. This year, twenty organizations will receive trees, the assistance of a professional arborist plus the necessary tools and equipment needed to plant and care for the orchard.
Winkle, Executive Director of Turning Point, says, “They'll even provide shovels and wheelbarrows. It's an amazing, exciting, very real possibility that we could win an entire orchard of apples, peaches and berries for our community. The orchard would give our at-risk youngsters an incredible learning experience and employment training plus provide fresh fruit for our local food pantries. All it will cost us is the votes of our friends and neighbors online.”
With over two acres of fenced land, an irrigation system already in place, and a beehive for pollinators, Turning Point is well positioned to receive the grant. “There are 11 Ohio organizations participating; but we're the only one in Highland County. Several of them are in Cleveland and bigger population centers, but we can still win. They'll choose the ones that have the most likely chance of success. Everyone can vote every day. We need all of our friends, and all of their friends, to vote online. It's free for us, but it could have an incredible return,” Winkle says.
The existing garden at Turning Point provides employment training and skill development for returning and diverted offenders, at-risk youth and disadvantaged persons seeking to move from economic dependence to self-sufficiency. Each summer, trainees in the Turning Point program cultivate a garden that provides a variety of fresh nutritious vegetables to area homeless shelters, food pantries and needy families.
Trainees, in turn, learn skills in horticulture, beekeeping, agronomy, pest management, machine operation, and customer service.
According to Winkle, “By expanding the existing garden to include an orchard, Turning Point can increase the employability skills of its trainees, expand our donated to include fresh fruit, and develop a sense of civic responsibility in our program participants. This is a great way to give back to the community.”
Voting began April 15 and will continue through September. The first five winners will be announced on June 1 with five additional winners chosen in July, August and September. Jill Parr, a Criminal Justice intern doing her internship at Turning Point is going to be helping with the campaign.
Parr says, “We just want everyone to visit CommunitiesTakeRoot.com and vote, as often as they can. What Edy's and the Fruit Tree Foundation hope to accomplish is to help communities blossom, one orchard at a time. It can be our community; we can make it happen.”
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