Stop the Destruction of the Northside Community Garden
This is truly a case of paving paradise to put in a parking lot! A neighborhood has come together as a community in order to learn to grow and eat from an organic garden in what was a free fire zone for gangs. The lot had been left vacant and trash filled for over 30 years! With the help of donated seeds, plants, lumber and know how, we are harvesting every week! Now, in 13 short weeks, there are children playing and learning there, neighbors meet up for BBQ's or just to chat, elders play dominos or chess, song birds, bees, and butterflies abound! Litter is down all around the area, there are all kinds of conversations and cooperations that would never have happened if this place was not there. It doesn't matter if you don't live here, wrong is wrong and if you don't believe a city official should use his "pull" to put in a parking lot the PEOPLE don't want, then please sign, and pass it on! Thank you.
We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our leaders to act now to save the community garden that volunteers from the Saint Louis community have been growing for months. We have just celebrated our three month anniversary of creating a garden of flowers, organic vegetables, and other plants for the community on the corner of Red Bud and Carter in Saint Louis, Missouri. This lot remained vacant for at least 20 years and now is finally being used to benefit all people with free fresh vegetables for everyone in the community. The children of the community have been tending to the garden and learning valuable lessons about agriculture and farming, as well as how to take care of the environment.
Unfortunately, we are now learning that there are plans to turn the space into a parking lot for a nearby facility.
We are taking a pro-active stance in case something happens to the garden that has become a place of family gatherings, community cook-outs, and a place of peace for everyone who lives here. We urge you to donate the land to the community as a show of good faith, so that we can all continue to benefit from the Northside Community Garden as well as future gardens to come.
