Fidelity Investments & Blue Zones Project help revive garden at Bonnie Brae Elementary
What: After many school gardens withered during the pandemic, volunteers are busy getting the garden growing again at Fort Worth ISD’s Bonnie Brae Elementary.
Dozens of representatives from Fidelity Investments and Blue Zones Project will get their hands dirty at the Riverside neighborhood campus—clearing out weeds and creating new sensory and music garden features. The makeover, planned in coordination with Bonnie Brae’s parent organization, will create a vibrant outdoor classroom to support lessons on nutrition and science, and a spot for relaxation and downshifting. The project is the first of three Fort Worth ISD school garden makeovers funded by a grant from Fidelity Investments.
Blue Zones Project is a community well-being improvement initiative led in Fort Worth by North Texas Healthy Communities, the outreach arm of Texas Health Resources. The initiative works with schools, businesses, and other groups to make healthy choices easier. School gardens are linked to better well-being in children. (See below for more details.)
The garden project is managed by Made Greene’s Mary Jo Greene, who works with Fort Worth ISD schools on behalf of Blue Zones Project and North Texas Healthy Communities. Greene provides support and garden education for students and staff at more than a dozen Blue Zones Project Approved and participating schools—many of which are located in under-resourced communities with higher rates of obesity and chronic disease.
When: Thursday, Nov. 3, from 9:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: Bonnie Brae Elementary, 3504 Kimbo Road, Fort Worth, 76111
Visuals: Activities will include:
- Volunteers clearing out old garden areas and assembling new beds
- Planting seeds, laying mulch, staining new shade structure, fixing rain barrels
Why: According to research compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, school gardens encourage children to eat fruits and vegetables, provide opportunities to get active, and promote better grades. Gardens are also linked to happier moods and interpersonal skills, lower rates of obesity, and healthier habits lasting into adulthood.
About Blue Zones Project:
Blue Zones Project is led by Texas Health Resources under the umbrella of North Texas Healthy Communities and partners with businesses, schools, community leaders, and residents to support longer, better lives. Since 2015, more than 95,000 people and 367 groups and organizations have worked together to improve well-being. Fort Worth is the nation’s largest certified Blue Zones Community. The American Hospital Association and its partners highlighted Blue Zones Project in presenting Texas Health Resources the 2022 Foster G. McGaw Prize, which recognizes U.S. health care organizations committed to community health and well-being.
