Aramark restores garden beds at Pomonok Community Center

In order for communities to grow, people have to be willing to invest in the seeds of change. Today, twenty-five volunteers from Aramark demonstrated their commitment to building community by restoring 15 garden beds at Queens Community House’s Pomonok Center in Flushing.

Every year, Aramark holds an Aramark Building Community Day (ABC Day), where thousands of employees around the world engage in volunteer efforts that enrich and nourish the lives of their neighbors. This year, a group of Aramark volunteers, including staff from Citi Field and the Amtrak dining hall at Sunnyside Yards, joined with QCH participants to bring back the garden beds after a large construction project at the Pomonok Center last winter destroyed the previous beds.

The garden beds will be tended year-round by an inter-generational group of participants from the programs QCH operates out of the Pomonok Center, including a senior center, after-school program, Food Justice Youth Leadership program, Farmers Market, and cooking classes. Restoring the garden beds is a vital part of QCH’s Food Access and Healthy Eating initiatives at the site, as they offer hands-on learning opportunities and generate an enthusiasm for fresh, locally grown produce.

“We’re so grateful for Aramark’s help, as we’ve been able to get our garden space back” said Brendan Frodell, Director of the Food Access initiatives, which reach over 1,500 people annually.  “Hopefully this will inspire the residents of Pomonok Houses to get involved even more in our efforts. There’s this beautiful connection of people working within the landscape that they live, to grow food and flowers. I think it’s just good for the soul.”