HFHK expansion accelerates this spring with four new schools

The HFHK crew also welcomed the first schools from the Caesar Rodney and Appoquinimink School Districts

Booker T. Washington, the second Capital School District school to become a partner, built their garden back in the fall with help from local volunteers including The Godbrothers group from Delaware State University. They filled the garden beds with soil and constructed Booker T. Washington ES’s new garden shed.

Delaware State University student group The Godbrothers

This spring, gardens for the first two Caesar Rodney School District (CRSD) Schools to join HFHK, W. Reily Brown Elementary and Allen Frear Elementary, were built. The soil for all three Kent schools was generously donated by local company Blessing Greenhouses & Compost Facility Inc. That’s a total of 48 cubic yards of soil!

Inspired by the community’s dedication to seeing these school gardens succeed, HFHK is excited to begin their partnership with CRSD! CRSD isn’t the only new district to partner with HFHK; Olive B Loss Elementary, built this spring, is HFHK’s first partner school in the Appoquinimink School District. Olive B. Loss’ garden was built within the school’s courtyard. This led to some unique building challenges as 12 cubic yards of soil needed to be moved through the hallways. Thankfully, BJS Nursery had the solution. They went out of their way to provide the school with bagged soil for easy transport.

“From new school district partners to several rain delays causing us to buildbeds inside, this will be a season to remember!” said Jen Cipolla, Program Manager. “Thank you to all of our build volunteers, including CRSD’s Eco-Team and Breakthru Beverage of Delaware. We couldn’t do this without you!