Part of the Summer of Service Series:
DJJDP Partners with Earn and Learn to Provide Community Service:

The Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP) partnered with the Earn and Learn program of Buncombe County to hold the Garden Gate Project, a day of community service to help beautify the main entrance of the Swannanoa Valley Youth Development Center.  Earn and Learn, sponsored by Buncombe Alternatives, Inc., is a Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) funded program which offers youth the opportunity to give back to their community.  Youth involved in the Earn and Learn Program worked alongside the staff of DJJDP’s Western Area Office to plant annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees.   

According to Linda Graney, Western Area Consultant and coordinator of the project, “We felt a good way to embrace Governor Perdue’s and Secretary Linda W. Hayes’ charge to provide community service this summer as part of the ‘United We Serve’ initiative was to start at home, at our local youth development center, where we are creating a garden outside the front gate for neighbors, youth, staff and all who travel by to enjoy.”  

A community wide investment in the Garden Gate Project included donations of money and service by DJJDP employees and community businesses including Jesse Israel and Sons Garden Center; the Ingles Markets of Swannanoa and Black Mountain; and the Brackett Farm.

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