This week, we are highlighting some of our community events and partnerships. The Rodney Reservoir is an incredible resource for Wilmington and we are excited to be building partnerships with groups across the city working to expand access to food and access to nature as well as connecting with more West Side neighbors!
WHO WE ARE: Green for the Greater Good is a group of neighbors working to keep the Rodney Reservoir site public, safe and green so all residents can enjoy its use. All are welcome to join this effort!
This newsletter keeps our community informed about the latest news about the Rodney Reservoir and shares opportunities for everyone to engage and take action.
1. FREE FARM STAND
This summer, Green for the Greater Good has hosted Free Farm Stand events in the West Side Grows Community Garden at the Rodney Reservoir on Thursday nights. These events are an opportunity to share vegetables straight from the garden and for neighbors to come together to explore and enjoy the space.
The Free Farm Stand has been a great success and a lot of fun. It has been amazing to spend time with neighbors who have memories of the place and haven’t been up in years and meet more local residents who are interested in gardening and spending time in nature.
We hope you can join us for the next event on 8/24! We are planning to extend the series into the fall. Stay tuned for dates on our website! Please reach out if you would like to donate or get involved.
Enjoy some images from the event series in our gallery.
2. LEWIS DUAL LANGUAGE ELEMENTARY
We extend our thanks to William C. Lewis Dual Language Elementary for supporting the Free Farm Stand this summer by donating the use of their garden beds for community production so we can grow food to donate to the community.
Green for the Greater Good launched the partnership with Lewis and Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids and West Side Grows last fall. The partnership brings Lewis students and teachers of grades K-5 to the community garden at Rodney Reservoir to grow food, learn science and have fun. An estimated 400 students and teachers began gardening last fall. We are working on building on this successful partnership to create an additional student gardening project with another neighborhood school at the garden in the near future.
Since the school gardening program takes a hiatus in the summer months, we’ve been grateful to make use of this resource for the greater good. We look forward to their return to the garden next month!
3. NEW PARTNERSHIP: Free Food for All!
We are looking forward to working with two amazing groups working to address food insecurity in our community in inspiring ways. Free Food for All and Humbly Assisting Humanity provide free meals to the community at events around Wilmington and beyond. They focus on inviting and elevated menus and local ingredients, and they operate from the ethos of mutual aid. Learn more about Free Food for All’s amazing work on their Instagram and about Humbly Assisting Humanity in this article.
We look forward to donating veggies from the West Side Grows Community Garden to support their work and are planning an event with them in the near future. Please stay tuned for ways you can support.
4. WESTSIDE URBAN GREENSPACE LOOP
Friday, August 18th, 7-8 PM in the West Side Grows Community Garden at the Rodney Reservoir
The City of Wilmington’s Urban Greenspace Loop is a free self-guided public event to connect the community with innovative greenspaces. The event in June visited spaces on Wilmington’s Northside.
This month’s loop will visit three unique greenspaces on the Westside according to the following schedule:
5:00PM: 7th & West Community Garden
@ 306 W. 7th St, Wilmington, DE 19801
6:00PM: The Village Tree Inc. Community Garden
@ 214 Delamore Pl, Wilmington, DE 19805
7:00PM: Rodney Reservoir Community Garden
@ 1500 W. 9th St, Wilmington, DE 19806
(enter via stairs on Clayton near 9th Street)
We hope you can participate in the entire event and invite you especially to join us at the Rodney Reservoir from 7-8 PM. Come roam, relax and connect in these community spaces!
This event is a collaboration with the City of Wilmington, West Side Grows and the Urban Bike Project. See the Facebook event for more info and updates here.
5. RODNEY RESERVOIR WORKING GROUP
Second Meeting on Monday, July 24, 4:30-6 PM, 800 N. French St., Turner Conference Room - 6th Floor Department of Public Works
The future of the Rodney Reservoir is still in flux! Rodney Reservoir Working Group will convene for a second meeting this coming Monday. The meeting is open to the public with a comment period open at the end of the meeting. On the agenda is discussion of the Request for Proposal draft that committee members have put together for the purpose of hiring a landscape architect to facilitate a Community Design process and create an amazing design for the future Rodney Reservoir Park.
We encourage folks to attend and engage in this process. We will keep you posted on the committee’s work here as well.
GET MORE INVOLVED:
We all need to work together to make sure our neighborhood is heard and the city works with us on the future of the Rodney Reservoir! Here are some ways you can help:
Share posts on your own social media.
Visit the website for the latest news.
Join weekly Saturday meetings at 10 AM at the Church of The Holy City at 1118 N. Broom Street. Enter to the right of the main door and enter through the side door.
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