The Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department partnered with Urban Greens and the Muskingum County Literacy Council to bring youth some summer fun this year. Starting June 1st Muskingum County youth can participate in the Learn As You Grow Community Garden Scavenger Hunt. Youth will visit 11 different locations across Zanesville to answer the scavenger hunt questions. These locations include several local community gardens, youth centers, all the branches of the Muskingum County Library System, and a few other places of interest. Once the scavenger hunt form is complete, they can turn in their form at any library location for a prize.
Urban Greens is a program of the Muskingum Soil and Water Conservation District that began in 2016. They started with three community gardens in the Putnam Historic District, and now have six gardens in and around Zanesville. Their focus is on “Growing with a Purpose”, and extra fruit and vegetables grown in their gardens go to food pantries to help provide healthy foods to people.
Throughout the summer, Urban Greens has several opportunities for the community and the youth to be involved with the community gardens. Several of their gardens have free little pantries to give away extra produce from those gardens to the community. Follow their Facebook page, Urban Greens, to learn more about their upcoming events including volunteer opportunities.
The Muskingum County Literacy Council was started over 20 years ago. They help children and adults with reading. This includes read-alouds, Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and helping adults reach their goals. To support literacy efforts in our community, donations can be made on the Muskingum County Literacy Council Facebook page. Like and follow their page to see all the work they do throughout the year for literacy.
Learn As You Grow Community Garden Scavenger Hunt forms can be found at any local library branch, or can be downloaded here.
