SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport Fire Chief Clarence Ross and members of the SFD, along with volunteers and city leaders, worked with Shreveport Green to enlarge the Dr. Martin Luther King neighborhood community garden this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Shreveport Green, a Keep Louisiana Beautiful Community Affiliate, received $25,000 from The Lowe’s Hometowns program for a Martin Luther King Community Garden project in 2022.
They were able to construct a pergola and fencing, plus paint a large storage container and improve six vegetable beds with the funding last September when Lowe’s employees and Shreveport Green volunteers completed the $25,000 project at the junction of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive and Legardy Street.
Other Shreveport Green gardens are located at five Shreveport SPAR Centers, including addresses at Airport Park, Bilberry Park, Hattie Perry Park, Hollywood Heights Park, and Lakeside Park. Ten more Shreveport Green gardens may also be found at elementary schools, including Caddo Heights Math/Science Elementary, Claiborne Elementary, Creswell Elementary, E. B. Williams Stoner Hill Elementary Lab School, J. S. Clark Elementary, Linwood Public Charter School, Midway Professional Development Elementary, Sunset Acres Elementary, Werner Park Elementary, and Westwood Elementary.
A garden at Centenary College of Louisiana and one at VOA Lighthouse Center on Travis Street are also puzzle pieces of Shreveport Green’s progress, and the organization’s website states that more community gardens are on the way.
It was Dr. King’s dream that one day, we would all be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. And on this beautiful Monday, friends stood together, tending the soil of brother- and sisterhood. What meals will be made from the foods grown in this community garden? Only time will tell. But there is little doubt that the harvests will be shared around many a table.
Founded in March of 1990, Shreveport Green was initially supported and encouraged by the Shreveport Medical Society and was a joint project of the Shreveport Beautification Foundation and the Shreveport Clean Community Commission. By 1992, the Clean Community Commission merged into Shreveport Green, which is now governed by a board of 24 directors. Shreveport Green educates the public on environmental issues and impacts as many people as they can through a variety of educational environmental programs and services.
To volunteer with Shreveport Green, call (318) 219-1888 or visit their website for more information.
