July 13, 2019/HIGHLAND PARK, MI. — It was the perfect day for playing in the dirt: Sunny skies, not a drop of rain on the horizon, and a garden filled with produce to harvest.
A Time to Help volunteers on Saturday did that and more at Buckets of Rain urban garden, located across the street from the SAY Detroit Family Medical Clinic. They pulled weeds. They delicately picked green beans and pulled onions out of the dirt. They planted carrots. They pulled weeds.
Boy, did they pull weeds — wheelbarrows full of them.
Under the direction of Buckets of Rain operations manager Tony Johnson and garden manager Warren Brantley — affectionately know as “King of the Garden’’ — ATTH’s July event was filled with projects aimed at nourishing the nonprofit’s neediest citizens. It’s an effort that can’t be done without the help of volunteers, Johnson said.
“For us at Buckets of Rain, with the amount of food we’re trying to grow, we need about 4,000 volunteer hours to sustain what we need,” he said. “They’re so important.”
A Time to Help will be back in Highland Park on Aug. 24 to assist at a community health fair. Details will be posted in the coming weeks. The health fair will involve several nonprofits, include the SAY Clinic, Avalon Village and Buckets of Rain. Avalon Village and Buckets of Rain are partner programs of SAY Detroit this year.
“We’re excited about the coalition we’re trying to build in the community,” Johnson said. “”We’re trying to create solidarity in Highland Park to promote each other and make sure people get the most out of all of the services. There are people who want to create positive change here, and it can’t happen without everybody’s input.’’
