2024 Green Grants Award #21: The Highland Center is Awarded $1,000

Congratulations to the Highland Center for their $1,000 Green Grants award for their Community Beautification plans!

The Highland Center pavilion is a central, public location in Highland County.  The Center hosts a weekly Highland Farmers’ Market that draws a large number of visitors during the summer months. Currently, there are raised garden beds outside The Highland Center, but they have disintegrated a great deal over the winter and are now an eyesore. Having one of the most beautiful buildings in the county looking un-cared for is bad for local morale and makes a bad impression on visitors.

The Highland Center has a very small staff and does not have the capacity to adequately maintain all the exterior space. The Center will partner with the Highland County Extension Office to build, plant, and maintain new raised garden beds at pavilion.  The partnership offered by the Highland Extension office is a wonderful collaboration that will allow volunteers to beautify the property, making it more welcoming to all.

The Garden Bed Project will bring new life and beauty to the outside of The Highland Center. It will provide produce for some of the educational programs that are offered, such as canning and pressure cooking classes, fire cider workshops, herb drying, and more. The Garden Bed Project will also provide the local youth with an opportunity to learn about gardening and nature as they plant and maintain the beds.  It will also offer youth the opportunity to earn required volunteer hours.

Funds from the Green Grants award will be used to purchase materials to build raised garden beds, such as pressure treated wood, liner material, and nails.  Other supplies include soil, mulch, seeds, seedlings, gardening gloves, and a hose.

Because the county does not have a community garden, the new Garden Bed Project will assist in the work of the Extension Office with their mission to teach about agriculture and natural resources. The beds will be planted with herbs and vegetables that will be used in educational programming.  It will provide educational activities for Extension Office clubs and camps, and will provide local youth with the opportunity to earn volunteer hours through the Virginia Cooperative Extension program.