‘Seeds of Hope’ to help feed residents

A LOCAL non-profit organisation will be starting a fruit and vegetable garden to help residents at a special needs facility in Chatsworth.

Legendary Earth, a humanitarian organisation, will be starting a garden project at the Cheshire Homes in Croftdene, Chatsworth.

The “Seeds For Hope” initiative is a project aimed at creating a sustainable source of food for residents at the Home.

Yaseen Adam, chairman of Legendary Earth, said there were two abandoned greenhouses on the property which they plan to rejuvenate.

“The idea is to plant fast growing vegetables, like spinach, beetroot and lettuce. These vegetables will be for the residents of the village. The excess will be sold and whatever funds that will be generated will go towards sustaining the place.

“There are some places where it can be questionable if we had to give them something. At this place they need help. We first started distributing bread here which we have continued,” he said.

Adam said they first needed to clean out the place to get it ready for planting.

“We are looking for sponsors to assist with seedlings to sustain the project,” he said.

The facility is home to 34 residents with various degrees of disabilities.

Sandy Padaychee, manager of the Home, said it was a wonderful project between the Home and Legendary Earth.

“Residents in wheelchairs will assist in the planting. This will help improve their motor skills. When they start harvesting what they planted, it would help develop and improve their self-esteem. We will have organic vegetables in our kitchen which will improve the quality of meals. We would like to eventually market the produce to locals so that it can become a sustainable income-generating project,” he said.