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Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Celebrating six years of a growing community

This month marks six years of cultivating a community at the corner of Wilson Street and West Cameron Avenue in Chapel Hill, and the atmosphere is as collaborative as ever.

“There’s nothing quite as equalizing as working side by side with others in the dirt” — that is a motto learned and lived by the Carolina Campus Community GardenCoordinator Claire Lorch.

This month marks six years of cultivating a community at the corner of Wilson Street and West Cameron Avenue in Chapel Hill, and the atmosphere is as collaborative as ever.

On a sunny afternoon, or even under a few rain clouds, Lorch often can be found with group of students, staff and community volunteers on the blooming and bustling patch of land. Tasks vary. So do the people who filter in and out of the garden on work days.

“I’ve run into a lot of different people. You meet people from Raleigh, Durham — the neighbor next door,” said Kat Belter, a UNC-Chapel Hill student volunteer.

All the fruits, vegetables and herbs grown and harvested from the Community Garden are distributed among lower-wage earners on staff at Carolina.

“It’s very much a community organization,” said Carolina sophomore and volunteer Ritam Chakrabortui. “It’s a physical representation of the University’s mission to provide food security — food for all.”

And to educate in and outside Chapel Hill.

NC State professor Julieta Sherk started working with Lorch years ago on designing the solar greenhouse as a way to provide Wolfpack students with a hands-on opportunity that fosters a sense of the larger community spanning the campuses.

“I like to bring my students out to do design-buildwork,” Sherk said. “We’ve done community service projects all over the state, and we’re delighted to have a chance to give a little help here.”

During a recent week, NC State students in Sherk’s Construction Studio course were at Community Garden to pitch in — moving gravel into place around the newly built solar greenhouse and relocating a fig tree to allow for the grading of a future path to the greenhouse.

“We all have the same goal — we’re just trying to get our education,” said NC State student Connie Gatlin.  “It’ something everyone should take part in, no matter what college you go to.”

To learn more about the Carolina Campus Community Garden and how to volunteer, visit http://uncgarden.web.unc.edu/