By Samantha Mocle

Students, faculty, staff, Lasell Village residents, and preschool students from the Holway Child Study Center (The Barn) gathered on Earth Day to repair garden beds and plant new seedlings, giving the University's intergenerational community garden a needed spring cleanup. 

Residents at Lasell Village and members of the Student Government Association brought plans to ressurect the garden to Lasell's senior management team in the fall, while Angela Buonocore '22 simultaneously developed a plan with School of Health Sciences Dean Cris Haverty to revitalize the space as part of her spring biology internship. President Michael B. Alexander brought all parties together on the expanded community project. 

"It was a big team effort and it turned out beautifully," says Buonocore. She worked with Lasell Village residents Jennifer Huntington and Caroline Schastny to plan the activity and select plants, with a focus on vegetables that Lasell's youngest learners at The Barn could pick and add to their daily meals. 

"One of the great benefits of group gardening is interacting with others, and on Earth Day, we were able to connect four generations on one project," says Huntington. 

Adds Schastny," The level of sharing materials and working together, from the youngest to the oldest participants, was what this experience was all about."