LUDLOW, Vt. – The GFWC Okemo Valley Women’s Club gathered Saturday, June 5, 2021 for their annual volunteer garden project at Mountainside House in Ludlow, Vt. Mountainside House is a Windsor County Youth Services facility that offers a structured living environment and an onsite tutoring program for youth under 18 who are looking for a place to stay for a short period of time.
Mountainside House also has a long-term program designed for youth ages 16.5 to 22 looking to ease the process of going from a shelter to living on their own. These residents are encouraged to finish their high school education, develop independent living skills, and work toward maintaining a job. Windsor County Youth Services’ mission is to explore, develop, and implement crisis prevention and early intervention programs for youth as well as to promote awareness of new and existing resources for healthier lifestyles and decision-making for youth and their families.
The Okemo Valley Women’s Club Garden Project began in 2017 as a way for the club to establish an annual hands-on volunteer opportunity to benefit those in need in their own community. Club women gather yearly in early June to fill window boxes and planters, hang baskets of flowers, and tend to the perennials and bushes they have planted in past years. Weeding, mulching, and pruning goes hand in hand with beautifying the exterior of Mountainside House with flowers and plants.
The ladies are always happy to receive help from the youth who are current residents at Mountainside House and in a few hours of digging in dirt, there is a sense of accomplishment for everyone involved. This year 10 club women were delighted to be able to gather once again and, all vaccinated, enjoy each other’s company while planting and weeding. Despite the heat, nine planters were filled with flowers and perennials mulched and weeded. The club would like to thank Mountainside House for their assistance again this year in aiding with another successful morning of gardening.
The Okemo Valley Women’s Club is a member of GFWC, an international women’s organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service.