PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Under the Carpathian walnut tree in the community garden on Ring Street grow bronze fennel, cabbages and blackberries. Two bee hives that produce 40 pounds of honey a year sit in the shade of the towering tree's branches. Tomatoes, peppers and basil sprout from raised beds nearby.
Groundwork Providence, the local affiliate of a national environmental nonprofit, took over this garden on the city's west side a few years ago, expanded it by digging up an asphalt parking lot and had an outdoor classroom built there a year ago.
The work was supported in part with a $175,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor that Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed helped secure for Groundwork. On Friday, Reed came out to see what the money helped accomplish.
"But for the grant, none of this could have happened," Gary Cloutier, executive director of Groundwork, said to Reed.
The senator, in turn, applauded the work done by Groundwork.
"Without this type of dedication this doesn't happen," he said