Garden Story: Meet the Goethe Solutionaries – gardeners running for food justice!

It’s the time of year again when the Goethe Solutionaries garden program stewarded by CCGA gardener Huu Nguyen holds a fundraising run, this year is its third! Two young people, Jaci and Kaila, are each running a mile to help raise funds for the program. The Solutionaries’ activities center on helping students, teachers, and all community members act locally and pragmatically to find visionary solutions to life’s problems. Whether they are facing academic, individual, or social problems, the lessons in this program provide foundational critical thinking skills and tools to help solve difficult and confusing problems.

While the run was scheduled for Friday, Oct 11th, it was rained out! The make-up dates coincided with the school strike, so instead of an all-day event, now, the 1-mile run will take place during the regularly scheduled PE class. The CrowdRise campaign is still active, and the students will still run their mile to raise funds to sustain the garden and food justice program. 

Support is crucial as the fun run/walk not only encourages healthy behaviors, but it also ties in the importance of what an urban green space does for overall health. And moving beyond the individual physical and social-emotional benefits of Goethe’s garden, the garden space is a place for community members to gather and share, socialize and have courageous conversations.