Leitchfield, Ky. — Scattered rain showers stopped late Friday morning, May 18, long enough for a green ribbon to be cut symbolically opening the Wallace Avenue Community Garden in Leitchfield. Located on Wallace Avenue behind Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center, the garden is a joint project between the Master Gardener Association of Grayson County and the TLRMC Population Health Committee.
Wayne Meriwether, CEO of Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center told the forty plus people there the story about how the Community Garden project came to be. “In the most recent Community Health Needs Assessment the hospital performed, Nutrition and Obesity were two of the top health challenges facing the people living here. When compared nationally and statewide, Grayson County ranks low in several key areas including diabetes and diabetes deaths; adult obesity; limited access to healthy food; and the percent of low income residents that do not live close to a grocery store.”
Meriwether said TLRMC formed the Population Health Committee to respond to these and other community health challenges. The Population Health Committee partnered with the Master Gardeners in building the Community Garden to help reverse the negative nutrition trends.
Carol Meriwether, Community Garden committee chair for the Master Gardeners thanked the many individuals and organizations that made the Garden possible.
“I am standing here today overwhelmed by the giving spirit we have experienced from Grayson County in the form of generous donations of materials, time, and funds.” Carol Meriwether listed the donors and made a special effort to thank and recognize the many hours worked by the Grayson County Detention Center and the other members of the Master Gardener Community Garden committee.
Research and planning for the Community Garden has been going on for over three years. The group found several community gardens to base a Grayson County program on including ones in Owensboro and Bowling Green.
Each gardener will be assigned either a 48 square foot or 80 square foot raised bed plot to use throughout the growing season for a nominal fee. If anyone is interested in getting a plot, contact the Grayson County Cooperative Extension service at 270-259-3492.
The Community Garden committee would like to thank the following people and organizations for their help in making the Wallace Avenue Community Garden possible.
Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center
Grayson County Detention Center
Otis Bryant & Son
P & L Railway
Schumacher Emergency Department clinical partners
Tractor Supply Company
Future Designs
England Plumbing
Janney Holsteins
Miracle Recreation Equipment in Kentucky and Tennessee
Cecilian Bank
Leitchfield Utilities Commission members
Grayson County Extension Service
Master Gardener Community Garden committee
