ST. LOUIS — Pulling weeds and gardening may be run-of-the-mill practices for some St. Louis residents. However, a non-profit was doing those things for a purpose on Thursday.
"This here is our Clay Community garden space which we manage. We do outdoor education here. We provide food access to the Hyde Park neighborhood and the rest of North St. Louis. We also do neighborhood cleanup days," said Nick Speed, the founder and executive director of Ujima.
Ujima is just one of the non-profits people can give to on Give STL Day on Thursday. The 24-hour celebration gives people the chance to donate to the good causes happening around the city.
Since 2018, Speed's organization has sought ways to put soil into the ground., including their garden at 3820 North 14th St. in St. Louis.
They support mutual aid efforts across the Greater St. Louis Area, including A Red Circle, Solidarity Economy, and Growing Food Growing People, and provide produce, herbs, and flowers to local farmers' markets and businesses.
In November 2021, they purchased a house and five lots which served as its urban farm, George Washington Carver Farm.
Speed has purposely zoned in on neighborhoods within North St. Louis, a once thriving area now plagued with dilapidated buildings.
"After decades of divestment. Environmental racism, you see what we have today which is a lot of vacant buildings. Vacant lots," he said. "The Sunflower Institute is going to benefit from this year's STL GIVE DAY campaign. We have a teen program for sixteen to twenty-year-olds."
That would include young people like Ryan Owens who has worked with the group for a few years now.
"It's convenient for me since I live five minutes away but also just knowing about St. Louis' history with food, food deserts, and bringing back the power of agriculture to these neighborhoods. I think is very important."
The institute engaged young people in professional development, agriculture, culinary arts, and occupational therapy.
"When we put seeds in the ground. We're literally transforming our relationships with food," Speed said.
Click here to learn about giving to this organization or many others across the St. Louis region.
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