To Our Volunteers: Thank You!

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On behalf of Forest Park Community Garden we would like to thank you for all your
hard work at the garden on Saturday April 30th. This has been a dream come true and
it would not have been possible without each of you. To our team leaders, Michelle
Woehrle, Andrew Cooper, Nick Ardinger, Monica Angelo, Sally Cody, Rob Kartholl, Irma
Dixler, Dorothy Gillian and Lashone Sanders; your leadership on Saturday was key to the
success of this event. We would also like to thank the Village of Forest Park, including
Mayor Anthony Calderone, Village Administrator Tim Gillian, Sally Cody, Letitia Olmsted,
Denise Murray, and John Doss for their support throughout Live Healthy Forest Park! grant
process and the many hours of hard work at the garden. Finally, we cannot forget the
Comcast Corporation who made our April 30th build day possible by providing volunteers,
refreshments, and other support.

On Saturday April 30th, Forest Park residents, FPCG gardeners, Village employees and
elected officials joined Comcast volunteers and together we were able to transform what
was nearly a blank slate into a vibrant and thriving garden. Together you built and filled
20+ new raised beds which are now available to anyone who needs a place to garden,
3 new accessible beds for people with problems with mobility, a beautiful flagstone path
leading to a new large garden shaped like a flower which was planted with edibles that can
be harvested by anybody in the community. This flower shaped garden will also be used as
a teaching garden and to grow fresh food for the local food pantry. Additionally, we planted
hundreds of native plants which will draw pollinators like butterflies and bees to the garden
and be used as demonstration gardens for an education program we are also planning to
develop to teach our community about the importance of native plants. As you can see,
you accomplished an amazing amount of work Saturday!

We would like to host a gathering in the garden sometime this summer where we hope you
will all join us so that we can get to know you better and celebrate all your hard work. If we
have one regret, it is that we did not have time to chat with you more.

Again, thank you all for your hard work. Know that we appreciate you and that the work
you did will help us make lifelong changes to our community.

With Thanks,

Forest Park Community Garden