By By Tricia McCann
Staff Writer
@tricia_mccann
Who goes out on Mondays?
The Sustainability and Wellness Club is about to answer that question with their garden party this Monday, Sept. 15. Located behind the Creek Building in student housing, the party kicks off at 4 p.m. and will go until 6 p.m.
“This is our 2nd garden party of the season,” said Michael Staszewski, vice president of the club “At the Garden Party, we are going to work in the garden, pull weeds, rotate the compost piles, harvest food, water the plants and review the garden. This past season the wildlife really did a number on the plants. Geese, groundhogs, rabbits and probably more ate just about everything out of the garden other than the peppers and tomatoes. Even though the Sustainability and Wellness Club members were really disappointed with what happened, over all I think this was a good learning experience for everyone involved. We are also going to paint signs that we will place in each box. We are going to paint fruits and vegetables on these wood signs so people know what plants they are looking at or eating. We will also have music and free food!”
Alongside the IU club, students from Goshen College are also joining the festivities as a part of their very own Sustainability Leadership Certificate Program.
To kick off their semester, they canoe down the St. Joe and IUSB is one of their stops,” said Acting Assistant Director of the Center for a Sustainable Future, Dr. Jessica Mikels-Carrasco “We will be greeting them at the river’s edge at 5 p.m., welcoming them to the garden party and then talking with them some more about sustainability and the wetland restoration work that Dr. Deb Marr has been doing along the St. Joe next to IUSB.”
Students who are unfamiliar with what the club is about are welcome to come and ask questions about the garden and how they can help year-round. Staszewski wants students to know that getting involved yield great benefits.
“Students who knew nothing about healthy eating and/or gardening now have an opportunity to learn as much as they wish.,” Staszewski said. “They will also have an opportunity to meet other students on campus and work side-by-side with them and can work out volunteer hours or internships in the garden—especially over the summer. Students also have a voice in what is planted and they are allowed to come and pick whatever fruits and vegetables they want. This is a great stress reliever and I hope we can empower students to show up whenever they have time and pull some weeds or water the plants.”
If you are unable to attend the party, there are other ways to get involved. The Sustainability and Wellness Club will also meet on Friday, September 12, at 10 a.m. in the Sustainability Lounge. To learn more about the club, students can email Staszewski at mstaszew@iusb.edu or Angela M. Cormican, amcormic@gmail.com with any questions you may have. Be sure to like them on Facebook as well at IUSB Sustainability and Wellness Club.
