It's Earth Day. In DeKalb, volunteers planted vegetables at the DeKalb County Community Garden’s Northwestern Garden in Sycamore.
To celebrate this year for Earth Day and National Volunteer Week, employees at IDEAL Industries, Inc. planted cabbage and kale as part of the event.
The DeKalb County Community Gardens has sites all over the county, with over 200 raised beds as well as large acreages. The mission is to access to healthy and sustainably grown foods.
Julia Halsted is a senior HR generalist with IDEAL Industries and says team members enjoy participating in volunteer events like the Earth Day planting with the Gardens.
“It's an opportunity for them to build team morale, camaraderie and serve the community all at once,” Halsted said.
Adam Roach is the manufacturing and distribution strategy manager at IDEAL Industries.
“It does two things,” he said. "It allows you to give back to your community to help others around you, but it also gives you a sense of fulfillment so you can be happier about what you are doing with your time.”
The DeKalb County Community Gardens has volunteer opportunities throughout the year at various locations across the county.
Heather Edwards is the executive director of DeKalb County Community Gardens.
“We can’t do everything on our own,” she said at the Earth Day planting. “We really rely on the community to help us get some of the tasks done and it’s also huge cost savings for any non-profit organization including DeKalb County Community Gardens.”