Trackside Teen Center received a major gift from one Wilton scout back in 2011–Karina Olsen constructed the first garden beds in the front yard of the teen center that year for her Girl Scout Gold Award. Now, another young Wilton resident, Stephen Batter of Boy Scout Wilton Troop 20, continues that legacy of going green and giving back to the Wilton community in the same spot.
Batter, an eighth grader, completed his Boy Scout Eagle project at Trackside by engineering and raising the garden beds in support of the Neighborhood Garden, a program run by Trackside. During his work, he met Senator Richard Bluementhal, who stopped by to see his work in May.
Neighborhood Garden at Trackside is a cooperative effort between Wilton Youth Services, the Wilton Garden Club, Trackside Teen Center, and Boy Scout Troop 20. The program tries to get more young people involved with creating and maintaining vegetable gardens, to teach youth about the importance of healthy foods and volunteerism, as the produce they grow will be donated to the Wilton Food Pantry.
The program needs additional teen volunteers to help maintain the gardens during the summer. Sarah Gioffre and Pam Nobumoto dedicate themselves to volunteering and sponsoring the program, and they encourage teens who would like to get involved to learn more about the program on Trackside’s website. In addition, they would also appreciate any donations of new or gently used gardening tools (e.g. shovels, trowels, rakes, watering cans, wheelbarrows, etc.).