Federal funding will further pair children with seniors to share knowledge

From seeds to bloom quite the collection of local gardeners gathered for a funding announcement at Jubilee Heritage Family Resources Centre in Sudbury Wednesday.

Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe announced a federal grant of more than $15,000 to enable Sudbury Shared Harvest (SSH) to construct new raised garden beds and setup rain barrels and vermi-composters at three daycare centres within the city. The money is coming from the New Horizons for Seniors Program.

Pre-schoolers at local daycares are able to learn through a SSH program called Little Farmers. The children are taught about planting seeds, growing and nurturing the plants and harvesting vegetables from older adults.

“As I talk to the volunteers that run these programs, they are so surprised and also incredibly happy to see the young kids coming,” said Lapointe.

“They have such a curiosity so I think that it’s great that we’re seeing it happen in all part of our community.”

The idea to pair young children with seniors was an easy one for the organization – explaining that not so long ago grandparents would take kids out to their backyard gardens or even farms to show them where fruits and vegetables come from. Now, family farms and personal gardens are less common but the elder generation still wants to pass on these life skills to the young.

“That intergenerational piece of it is really important,” said SSH chair Jessica Blaauw.

“I think having seniors working with kids in a way that allows that passing of knowledge to occur.”

Volunteers with the program said it gives them a sense of purpose and lets them feel like they are helping the next generation achieve long-term goals.

“For me, it’s feeling needed and feeling like I’m accomplishing something,” said Suzanne Dubien, one such volunteer.

“It may seems small, you know, just working in the gardens and planting a few things but if we can nurture the love of the land with the kids, share the knowledge.”

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The partnership will see the pairing of young and old growing flowers, fruits and vegetables – these will be used to teach other lessons to the children once harvested.

“Creating volunteer opportunities for seniors also creates meaningful opportunities,” said Blaauw.

“I think growing the program through other daycare centres is only going to be beneficial.”

And the pre-schoolers are certainly happy to keep getting their hands dirty, officials added.