The St. Anthony & Area Boys and Girls Club/CYN offered a structured summer program to the youth, organized by our Program Coordinator and The Green Team. There were 65 participants in our camp program “Youth Culture and Environment”—this makes for a very busy place and a beehive of activity with interaction between youth/children and the community.

The youth got into the “mud” and built a beautiful flower garden in which they nurtured their plants each day and saw beautiful results.  They planted the garden just outside of the club and watched the flowers unfold as they watered and weeded the garden.  Seniors stopped by and gave tips and advice as they did their duties.

They also planted a vegetable garden .The children visited a greenhouse where they learned how to plant, care for, and harvest plants.  This was a very exciting trip for them and was a great learning experience.  The youth’s interest was so amazing and they got to actually see plants from seeds to harvest.  The owners of the greenhouse were awesome with teaching the youth step by step how to produce great results. The youth shared their knowledge in caring for the senior gardens and plants at our local Personal Care Home.   They planted seeds and scheduled watering visit for the garden and even did a little singing to entertain the seniors in the midst of the project, the seniors enjoyed seeing them visiting.

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The youth learned from the Green Team the importance of recycling, composting, and caring for their environment.  There were many nature walks and hikes which heighted the knowledge of the importance of caring for our environment. The group also participated in an Innovation and Discovery Field Trip which allowed them to explore various environmental/cultural sites in our region.  Youth hiked to “Salmon Hole” in Roddickton, where they were able to see the salmon actually swimming in the water and how they feed.  Everyone was so interested in the actual sight of the salmon. This was a four kilometer hike; a great physical activity as well.

Youth also participated in Grenfell Legacy Tour, where they learned about Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell and his tremendous contribution to our area.  They visited the museum, his house, and hiked the trail to “Tea House Hill”.  Many youth were very interested in the history and obtained so much knowledge.

This project has been so awesome—the youth learned life skills, culture, history, and caring for our environment.

Submitted by St. Anthony and Area Boys and Girls Club