A volunteer shows off a butterfly while working at the Bloomingdale garden. (Provided photo)

To the editor:

Hard work is a whole lot easier when volunteers turn out to lend a hand.

In June, Saranac Lake Farm to School and The Heart Network hosted a community workday to help rebuild the Bloomingdale Elementary school garden, which is over a decade old and needed some serious TLC due to a lot of use over time. Our volunteers helped us repair garden beds and generally spruce things up, and we’re grateful for the sweat equity they provided.

Additional thanks go to the Saranac Lake Central School District’s facilities team, which plays a key role in helping us maintain Farm to School infrastructure not just at Bloomingdale School, but at Petrova and the high school as well. We also send special shoutouts to SLCSD Career and Technical Education teachers, our district’s science education coach, Specialty Wood Products and Blue Line Compost for helping make this program a success.

The school gardens and greenhouses help us teach students about where their food comes from and how to eat healthily. They also serve as classroom spaces that let students apply science learning topics in real-world situations — and they even supply healthy produce for school cafeterias. We want to ensure that these spaces were well-maintained so that current and future students can continue to reap the benefits.

The partnership between Saranac Lake Farm to School and The Heart Network’s Creating Health School & Communities program, funded by a grant from the New York State Department of Health, is making a big impact on classrooms throughout the district, and we look forward to continued collaboration.

Thank you again for supporting our work, and keep an eye out for future opportunities!

Emily-Bell Dinan, Saranac Lake Farm to School

Arriana Patraw, The Heart Network