April 25th Service on Saturday Everbloom Farmacy

I had the opportunity to volunteer with the Everbloom Farmacy. While at this service event, I developed gardening skills, life skills (like how to reduce stress), and how to create more healthy eating habits for myself and those around me. Working at this Farmacy allowed me to see how much the city of Memphis is in need of fresh food. The owner of the Farmacy explained to us that many of the people in Memphis suffer from health diseases that could be fixed if they were to have access to healthier food options. Since I am not from Memphis, and the University is in one of the better areas of the city, I never considered how much other people were struggling. I was lucky enough to be able to attend this event with other University of Memphis students. Being able to work with them to clean the gardening beds as well as plant the plants made the work go by much quicker, and it also allowed us to get more things done for the garden in general. Since I was working in a team, I also had a chance to speak with some of the people in my group, and I was able to build connections with other members of the Emerging Leaders program. The mission of the Everbloom Farmacy is to provide healthier food options for the citizens of Memphis. At this event, I cleaned gardening beds and planted fruits, which I think contributed to their mission of having fresh fruits and vegetables for the community. This service aligned with my personal values and beliefs because I feel that everyone should have access to fresh produce. I never considered before how there are many people so close to me that are developing disease simply because of the lack of access. So, after my time at the Everbloom Farmacy, I can definitely say I would like to be back to volunteer again!

This service was so fun! I loved learning about the farm and the different things they grow. Also helping with replanting felt really nice.