Melrose Elementary School

Melrose Elementary School contains the highest rate of free and reduced lunch students in Pinellas County Schools. It is also constructed atop a brownfield location capping a former hazardous waste site. Our goal is to construct a state-of-the-art modified huegelkultur raised beds with a surplus water retention, recycling, or off-site disposal system. A grant of $2,000 will help to pay for two-fifths of the materials costs of the beds and water management system. Combined with existing donations we will have enough funding to begin construction this year. The materials will allow us to utilize community volunteer hours, recycled county organic materials, and our existing expertise to build a safe and healthy chemical-free sustainable urban schoolyard garden atop a brownfield. This funding for Melrose Elementary will impact more than 300 elementary school children a year by creating the means for their participation in the Edible Peace Patch Project