The teachers and students at Ramona Elementary in Hawthorne are ready to start using their garden, after a group of SoCalGas employees helped clear out weeds and hauled out unusable dirt last week during a first-time volunteer activity at the school. According to staff, during the Covid-19 pandemic, parents weren’t allowed on campus, and it became difficult to maintain the garden. Now that the soil is cleared out, students will start planting seedlings of various fruits and vegetables again.

“Yard work is hard, and it's nice to have capable volunteers come in and prepare the soil so that the students can have an opportunity for outdoor learning and experience the magic of seeing something grow,” said Mandy Richardson, Intervention Teacher at the school.

Within two hours, volunteers cleared out the garden bed, filled the back of a small dump truck and the trailer, and hauled everything away. “This means a lot because the kids love to get in and garden, but they can't do this heavy work,” said Dr. Patricia Ray, principal at Ramona Elementary School.

The person behind this effort is Gary Johnson, Regional Pipeline Project Manager at SoCalGas. He is a parent volunteer at the school and knows what hard work a garden can be, recalling his days at Chico State, and a time when he signed up for an elective class on the university’s farm. “I’m proud to help out at my son’s school with the support of my colleagues, and I’m grateful to work at a company that encourages its employees to volunteer and give back to our community,” Johnson said.

Danielle Marquez is a master gardener who has been working and volunteering with the school district since 2016 and showed up to help. “Open spaces provide opportunities for an open dialogue and for new topics to be discussed” Marquez shared.

The garden provides educational connections and is a space for learning about science, nutrition and more. “It's about building community.”

Pictured below: Danielle Marquez