University Park Neighborhood Association will be holding their monthly meeting on Sunday, March 29th in the JSU Welcome Center at 3:00 pm. They will be discussing Blackburn Laboratory Middle School’s garden. The garden is proposed to be in the neighborhood of University Park, which is right next to Blackburn. University Park residents are excited about the garden and want to meet to discuss ways in which they can support the garden. Anyone who is interested is also encouraged to come to the meeting.

Mrs. Betty Lyons is the president of University Park Neighborhood Associations and she has written a letter of support for the garden and has been gathering signatures from residents that support the garden. She hopes that this garden will be a catalyst for positive change in her neighborhood and a template for other vacant properties in the area.

Below is a rendering of the proposed garden and it is slated to break ground on Saturday, April 25th.

It took several organizations to work together in order to build and raise funds for the garden. Below are the list of organizations that organized and planned the garden and a list of those who gave grant money.

Organizations
JSU College of Education and Human Development
JSU Center for University-Based Development
MS Roadmap to Health Equity
Blackburn Laboratory Middle School

Financial Supporters
Kids Gardening
Whole Kids Foundation
Lowe’s
Home Depot
OneFitJSU & the JSU Recreation Complex

Almost everything is in place to move forward with the garden, however there is still a need for funding to put a fence around the garden. If you are interested in helping sponsor the fence and receive a permanent plaque with your name in the garden, please contact 601-979-5828.