YMCA partners with Cen Clear Services to educate volunteers on plant cultivation

Center County, Pennsylvania (WTAJ) — The Center County YMCA has partnered with Cen Clear Child Services to improve access to healthy foods in the community.

Volunteers left early with their gardening tools to start planting seeds for a healthier future. Farmland for the West Decatur project was donated to his YMCA by Cenria Child Services.

“Today our volunteers are planting all the vegetables we donated. Thousands of plants, lots of tomatoes, zucchini, squash, etc.,” Poorman said.

Organizer Effie Poorman said all the plants received were donated to the project from local farms in the Center County area.

“Many farms in the Penns Valley area worked with smaller farms like Think We Not Me, Tate Farms and Acres,” Poorman said. “So they all came together and planted seeds for us.

The food grown on the farm will now be used as part of the YMCA’s hunger program and distributed throughout the community.

Poorman said the project also allows volunteers to learn how to care for and grow fruits and vegetables on their own and lead a healthier lifestyle.

“I think it’s really important to teach people more about how sustainable they can be,” Poorman said. “Teaching children where vegetables come from and how to plate them is a challenge.”

For more information, YMCA again CEN Clear Servicevisit the website.