MCPS hosted nearly 1,000 volunteers, lawmakers and county leaders on April 22 for the Resilience, Education, Action, Climate, Habitat (REACH) Hub groundbreaking ceremony and Earth Day volunteer event at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School.
Per MCPS: Hundreds of middle and high school students, along with MCPS staff and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, spent time building portions of the farm, rehabbing a courtyard garden, and planting bio retentions at the middle school and nearby Weller Road Elementary School.
The REACH Hub at Loiederman is being developed by MCPS in partnership with the Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming, a nonprofit land trust, which is dedicated to creating and supporting neighborhood farms that provide educational opportunities, improve food security, build community connections and promote land conservation. Through support from Montgomery County Green Bank’s Technical Assistance Program, site designs are being developed by MCPS to increase the Hub’s resilience.
The REACH Hub will support food production and climate resiliency, as well as serve as an accessible resource for more than 17,000 students (89 percent minority) from 20 school locations within two miles, including four schools within walking distance.