Before the garden club can grow anything on campus, a seed of a different sort must be sown: money. Central Oregon Community College’s garden club is building a campus garden, but still needs funds to purchase planting soil and materials for a fence, according to Lisa Barnett, COCC student and founder of the garden club.

The Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College provided $14,000 for the project, and another $40,000 was gathered through donations, but at this time the club has capped out their resources. Still dealing with the cost of the existing materials and the services of Green Thumb Landscaping, Barnett hopes to turn to other sources to gain the funds.

“We’re trying to find a way to raise the money from just about anyone,” Barnett said. “We plan on making a Kickstarter page as well.”

The garden club hopes the benefits of the project will outweigh the cost. The garden would serve as an outdoor learning lab for students and decrease food insecurity by providing fresh produce for ASCOCC’s food bank. The campus garden would also be handicapped friendly, according to Barnett.

“We will have ramps for wheelchairs,” Barnett said. “When completed, it will be the most handicapped accessible garden of this type in the area.”

Noah Hughes | The Broadside
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