More than $3,000 is being donated Thursday toward developing an urban garden this fall in one of the city’s food-insecure communities.
The money will be donated at a ceremony hosted by Brister Street Productions, a concert booking and video production company, on May 10th at 2 p.m. at the Levitt Shell in Overton Park.
The funds were raised during the second annual Brister Street Music Festival, which took place on the last weekend in April. The fest featured a diverse lineup of bands that included jam, bluegrass, reggae, and Latin.
“We decided to make it a little more formal than, ‘Hey, here’s your money,’” said Jack Simon, founder of Brister Street Productions. “It actually coincides with the one-year anniversary of the first Brister Fest. I thought that it was appropriate to donate the money, say a few words, and give thanks to everyone involved.”
GrowMemphis — a nonprofit dedicated to building gardens in urban communities to increase access to fresh and healthy local food — will be the recipient of the donation.
“We’re helping give people access to food [and] creating a more sustainable city,” Simon said. “There’s so many health benefits to urban gardening.”
Chris Peterson, executive director of Grow Memphis, said it normally costs the organization $2,500 to $3,000 to fund a new garden.
“The amount that they’ve given us is perfect,” Peterson said. “It’s really great that the funding for the community garden is coming straight from the community rather than from a grant or something like that.”
Peterson said the funding would go toward purchasing things such as raised garden beds, soil, composts, watering systems, and other tools and infrastructure necessary for the garden to be sustainable in the long-term.
There will be brief speeches and music provided by Agori Tribe at the ceremony as well.
