News & Stories

Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters (BGCBigs) is now the proud owners of five Tower Gardens thanks to the support of our local Juice Plus+ representatives!

Early this year, we were approached by Juice Plus+ to discuss their national commitment to put a Tower Garden in every Boys and Girls Club across North America. Today, our McCauley, Tweddle, West, and Kinsmen Clubs are the proud owners of these vertical areoponic growing systems. Each garden is five feet tall and can grow up to 20 plants!

The Tower Garden program has helped us enhance our heath and nutrition programming immeasurably. Now it’s easier for our kids to learn about, grow, and enjoy fresh healthy food. The children and youth are all excited by the opportunity to grow things themselves and they have a new     relationship with the food they eat.

Not only have we received the Tower Gardens themselves, we have also been able to access a host of programming developed for schools through the Tower Garden website to continue improving our health and nutrition programming. Our wonderful Juice Plus+ representatives have also been kind enough to support our staff through the first couple growing cycles to ensure that each Club has a successful growing experience.

Here’s what our kids have to say about the program:

“I like helping plant the seeds. I planted lots of lettuce and then I got to cut it off and help make a salad with it.” – Jackson, 8 years old.

“I like watching the plants grow and getting to eat them after. I like the basil the most because it tastes like mint.” – Luwamm, 10 years old.

“Eating the food is the best. The bright lights are cool too.” – Daniel 6 years old.

“It’s a really cool process watching the plants grow without any sunlight. We have learned lots about different seeds and plants with the garden and in the gardening club too. I really like being able to help plant and harvest it.” Amenedab, 14 years old.

“The leaves are delicious!” – Sarah, 6 years old.

“It’s so fun helping with the garden. I learned lots of things and then I helped my mom with our garden at home.”  – Rehema, 8 years old.

“The Tower Garden is helpful because there are a lot of vegetables and we can make salads. We don’t have to buy as many vegetables.” – Hamdi, 8 years old.

“I like helping staff take care of the Tower Garden with other kids in Gardening Club. We wipe down the tower, check the water level, test the PH and dead head the plants.”  – Ester, 9 years old.

We are so appreciative of our community for stepping up to ensure that we can help kids reach their full potential. Thanks Juice Plus+!