West Chicago Community Garden 
3
3
West Chicago
,
IL
US
Aug. 30, 2022
About this Act
The West Chicago Community Garden is a multi-year old service-project led by the PeaceJam Infinity Club of West Chicago, Illinois. With the generous support of St. Michael's UCC & the guidance of our club advisor Alex Golovin, our group of youth leaders has been running a large community garden whose produce is donated to the local West Chicago Food Pantry.
Several years back, a General Mills Plant based in town suddenly closed. Many people in the town worked and depended on the plant for income. After closing, it became obvious that poverty and hunger was increasing in town. On top of that, there were few options for food insecure people in our community. After helping restore a nearby building into a new food pantry, we decided that there needed to be more options for healthy produce. That was how the project was dreamt to life.
Using gardening practices with a low-environmental impact, we grow hundreds of plants each year - including different types of tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, and sweet potatoes. We conserve our water usage through a rain water collection system involving a small tilted metal roof, rain barrels, and a storage tank. Our large compost bin is on site, and includes waste from the garden as well as donated natural fertilizer from Fermilab Natural Areas.
Our hope is to continue adding more elements to the garden as time goes on!
Our impact in numbers:
- Over 235 lbs of fresh produce donated each year
- 10+ varieties of vegetables grown & harvested
- 5 rain barrels within our rain collection system
- 1 pollinator garden
To help with this act of peace SIGN UP.
We cannot sow seeds with clenched fists. To sow we must open our hands.
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel