The Malaai Culinary Garden at Waimea Middle School got help sprucing up the space Monday when Kaiser Permanente Hawaii physicians and staff members spent the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday volunteering in the garden. The staff also worked at Kealakehe Intermediate School, helping establish a school garden on its grounds.
Kaiser Permanente employees, along with Hawaii Island School Garden Network and FoodCorps Hawaii, weeded, tilled and planted crops in the gardens, which are an integral part of both school’s sustainability curriculums.
The goal of the Hawaii Island School Garden Network is to help island schools build gardening and agricultural programs that will significantly contribute to the increased consumption of locally produced food by involving students, their school communities and their family networks in food production. The program is one of The Kohala Center’s self-reliance initiatives. Visit kohalacenter.org/HISGN/about.html for more information.