KHOU Channel 11's staff will trade in their sleek news desks and microphones for shovels and soil at Briscoe Elementary on Saturday, October 24. Their day of volunteering marks the annual Make A Difference Day, which falls on the fourth Saturday in October each year, and is the largest nationally recognized day of community service. Especially serendipitous this year is that Make A Difference Day also happens to fall on Food Day, which occurs each year on October 24 and is a celebration of wholesome food and a call to action to affect changes in food policy. It's great that KHOU's desire to help in Briscoe's garden amplifies Food Day messaging, and the convergence of both events certainly gives the volunteers and students a lot to celebrate!
The KHOU team will be tending to the Briscoe Elementary garden, helping students cultivate their produce. The Briscoe students will be participating in Recipe for Success's farmers marKIDS program this year, not only growing and harvesting produce, but also learning how to sell it, developing financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills along the way. For their inaugural market, the students will help build a wooden stand that they can reuse at all their markets throughout the year.
In addition to the market stand, the children will be replenishing their garden. With the help of the KHOU volunteers, four new raised beds will be created and 10 new trees will be planted to establish a mini orchard. By expanding the garden, the students will be able to have a much more robust selection of produce, and they'll be able to keep their farmers marKIDS stand open throughout the year, selling to parents, teachers, and other community members and having the opportunity to put all the proceeds back into their garden and market stand.
Helping to beautify the garden and commemorate the day in colorful fashion, volunteers will be assisting Houston muralist Suzi Sellers paint a mural in the garden. In 2010, Sellers donated her time and talents to MacGregor and N.Q. Henderson Elementary, and she will use the brick panels in the Briscoe garden as her canvas, painting oversized fruits, vegetables, and garden critters. We cannot wait to see how she transforms the garden into a work of art!
A big thanks to KHOU for volunteering to provide people, supplies, and their time, and also for bringing their TV cameras so the excitement of the day's activities can all be shared with our community!
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