By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

When challenged by their Participation in Government/Economics teacher Nicole Campbell to devise a community service project, four Baker High School seniors came up with an idea that will live beyond their time at school. Daniel Watkins, Hannah Hall, Kaitlynn Adsitt and Kiera Brady are planting a vegetable garden at the Canton Woods Senior Center to grow fresh produce for PEACE Inc.

“They don’t get a lot of fresh produce. They get a lot of canned goods … which aren’t as good for you,” Adsitt said.

The students sold lollipops at school and are soliciting donations from community members and local businesses to fund the project. They said the village of Baldwinsville told them it could not be called a “community garden,” so they came up with a different name.

“We’re going to call it the Giving Garden,” Hall said.

In their PIG/Econ class, the students watched films about homelessness, hunger and the importance of serving one’s community. One film, the 2000 drama “Pay It Forward,” was the basis of the class project.

“The premise of the whole project was to pay it forward and give back. Each group in our class is doing a different community service project,” Adsitt said.

Representatives from PEACE Inc. spoke to the class about their programs, which include food pantries, nutrition initiatives and resources for housing, finances and transportation.

“When we called PEACE they were really excited that we were going to donate to them,” Adsitt said. “We’re hoping that it will help a lot of families out with what they need.”

Watkins said the class material and PEACE’s presentation brought attention to the needs of community members right in Baldwinsville.

“There’s people in our community that are using the food bank and we don’t even know it,” he said.

The village of Baldwnsville tilled the plot at Canton Woods and the students planned to put seeds in the ground June 5.

“We’re just kind of piecing away at it, but I think soon everything’s going to come together at once,” Watkins said.

Over the summer, the four classmates plan to take shifts in caring for the garden. Their plan is to hand the garden down to the next PIG/Econ class.

“We’re going to try to take care of it as much as we can over the summer,” Watkins said. “Next year Ms. Campbell’s going to have another group take it over.”

In order to maintain the Giving Garden and keep the project going, the students are still in need of donations. To learn how you can help, contact Kaitlynn Adsitt at 744-7630.