Sign of the times
Chad Badgero, a community organizer with the Old Town Commercial Association through Americorps Vista, laughs with volunteer Amanda Hightree of Lansing as they finish the first planting of the Old Town community garden in Lansing. Badgero, who is attempting to the get the garden project going for the first time, said because the food they grow is not owned by anyone specific, he is hoping what they grow can be sold at the area farmer’s market for a discount price to locals.
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Chad Badgero is trying to plant more than just a garden in Lansing’s Old Town. He’s hoping to spread a little relief.
Badgero is a community organizer working through Americorps Vista with the Old Town Commercial Association to build a community garden for the residents in Old Town and the surrounding area. Badgero said 50 percent of the community is near the poverty line and a community garden might help residents save some money in the tight economy.
Americorps is a domestic version of the Peace Corps, whose members are employed as organizational members of nonprofits.
In Badgero’s case, starting a garden is just one of the community development projects he’s working on.
He’s enthusiastic about the program and what his work does for the Lansing community.
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“We are a small T-section of independent businesses surrounded by a community that 17 percent is on food stamps,” Badgero said.
“The hope is that (the community garden) is something they can use to offset having to go to a local grocery store because they’re growing their own vegetables.”
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