his year, the Rotary Club of Old Fort was the recipient of a district grant for its Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre Gardening Project for the creation of a community garden and construction of a greenhouse and tool shed.
The existing garden at Sandilands was destroyed by hurricane Matthew; the tool shed and greenhouse were likewise damaged and had fallen into disrepair.
Community gardening is an important occupational therapy tool as it promotes resilience positive social engagement, elevation of mood, responsibility, healthy eating and exercise, stimulates curiosity and reduces isolation.
Additional benefits to patients are as follows:
• improved attention and physical capacity,
• a greater sense of self-satisfaction,
• diminished aggressive behavior,
• reduced stress on the autonomic nervous system,
Produce cultivated by patients will eventually be offered for sale locally, with the proceeds of sale to be credited to participating patients and made available to them upon discharge from the facility.
The first phase of the project was the demolition of the existing shed and clearing the site. Rotarians from Old Fort along with members of Phi Beta Sigma attended the site in August and September to clean up and begin demolition. Last week Thursday, the shed was demolished and the site has been officially cleared for construction!
The Rotary Club of Old Fort would like to thank its community partners to date for providing invaluable assistance, in particular the management and employees of Bahamas Waste Limited, which provided bins for the collection and removal of refuse at no charge, and the men of Phi Beta Sigma.
