Grassroots Gold Coast community initiative
AMELIA and Delilah Staerk are two young green thumbs from Varsity Lakes taking part in an innovative community initiative harvested by Blackboard Coffee.
The Varsity coffee hotspot recently handed out 600 free packets of herb and vegetable seeds to young locals for them to grow – with the ultimate aim to teach valuable life lessons.
While educating themselves about the origins of food and how to run a successful business, the would-be farmers are also learning about the importance of charity – with the youngsters having the option of donating their crops to feed disadvantaged Gold Coasters through local organisation, Havafeed.
Marc Kinvig from Blackboard said he handed out packets of seeds, pots and soil, and families were already sending him photos of their sprouting herbs and vegetables.
“The original idea was to put seeds in the hands of young Varsity and Robina locals – to get them outside, getting dirty and watching something they started grow into something they can do something with,” he said.
“We gave them the options to sell the produce back to us at the cafe and watch their little money tree grow for something in their future.
“We have really noticed that kids are also more likely to eat and enjoy something they have grown themselves.
“A lot of kids have opted to forfeit their pocket money in order to give their crop to the homeless through the charity, Havafeed, which is really lovely to see.”
Sisters Amelia, 10, and Delilah, 8, from Varsity Lakes, are two such locals who are enjoying watching their seeds grow and looking forward to their crop benefiting locals in need.
“I like knowing that I’m helping the homeless and feeding them with seeds that I have grown myself,” said Delilah.
“It’s great to get some pocket money from selling our crops back to Blackboard, and Delilah and I will donate that pocket money to the homeless.”
Delilah added: “I have my own plants that I got from school – watching seeds that will one day turn into plants that are food on someone’s dinner table is pretty cool.”
Amelia and Delilah’s mother, Sarah Staerk, said the initiative had given her daughters some healthy perspective early in life.
“Anything that gets kids away from the computer and YouTube and back to grassroots can only be a good thing – this initiative is a little bit old-school and there’s something really nice about that,” she said.
“It’s been all about bringing local families and business together to teach kids about what’s important in life, while also helping vulnerable people living in our community.”
Division 11 Councillor, Hermann Vorster said he hoped the initiative had a long and fruitful future.
“My sincere hope is that this is a runaway success and produces a real market quantity of food for charity,” he said.
“The good news is that plants produce their own seeds and it should be self-sustaining.
“The free seeds have unfortunately all been given away, but anyone can get involved by simply picking up a packet from their local hardware store or garden centre.”
You can follow the success of the Blackboard Power Plant, or share images of how your seedlings are doing on the Blackboard Power Plan Facebook page.
