By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Green thumbs up for the Four County Community Foundation (4CCF) and C.J. Carnacchio, Oxford Township’s grants manager. The Almont-based 4CCF has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Oxford Township Parks and Recreation Department to establish a community garden and greenhouse in Seymour Lake Township Park.
The 10,000-square-foot community garden and 128-square-foot greenhouse will be maintained by a combination of parks and rec. staff members and volunteers of all ages. Volunteers will be recruited from Oxford and surrounding communities.
In order to maximize accessibility for senior citizens and individuals with disabilities who wish to volunteer, the community garden will include one-raised bed plot that will be 30 inches high, 4 feet wide and 36 feet long.

“I think it’s a win-win for the community,” said Carnacchio, who researched, wrote and submitted the grant proposal. “It will provide people of all ages an opportunity to get out in the fresh air, create bonds between older and younger generations, and the produce will go toward feeding food-insecure people. It will be local people growing food to help feed their neighbors.”
A majority of the vegetables and herbs harvested from the community garden and greenhouse will be donated to the Free Meals program based at Immanuel Congregational United Church of Christ (1 Hovey St.) in Oxford Village. Through this volunteer-run program, the fresh produce will be distributed to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. Every Wednesday, this program provides free prepared meals and free groceries to whoever needs them, no questions asked.
A portion of the vegetables and herbs will become ingredients for cooking classes offered to senior citizens (age 55 and older) through the parks and recreation department.
Carnacchio highlighted the advantage of the greenhouse will mean the garden will be productive year-round, and volunteers will have something to do even in the winter.
Recreation Specialist Dawn Medici and Park Superintendent Jeff Kinasz brought the idea to Carnacchio and supplied information to help craft the proposal. Carnacchio thanked 4CCF for investing in the community, and the local businesses sponsoring the project.
Harvest Time Farm Market and Pet Stuff (1125 S. Lapeer Rd.) has agreed to donate up 10 flats of vegetables and two flats of herbs for planting. Stones Ace Hardware (558 S. Lapeer Rd.), Home Depot (2600 S. Lapeer Rd.) and Tractor Supply Co. (575 N. Lapeer Rd.) have all agreed to donate assorted garden tools. To learn more about the Four County Community Foundation, please visit 4ccf.org.