Alyssa Mendoza BROWNSVILLE – What started out as an idea sprouted into a big green UTRGV garden. The UTRGV Brownsville campus now has a community garden made to nurture both nature and mind.
La Nueva Libertad Community Harvest Garden, located at 1301 E. Madison St., promotes food access, eco-friendliness and community engagement.
Estela De La Garza, director of community engagement, explained the effects the garden has on the community.
“The community is excited because it doesn’t just look like a pack of weeds anymore,” De La Garza said. “There’s flowers, there’s insects, butterflies [and] bees.”
The garden can be found at the Cueto building a few blocks away from campus at 1301 east Madison street in Brownsville.
Scarlett Munoz, accounting senior, shared her feelings on the project.
“It was very motivating to see other people go voluntarily just because, I mean, it’s a good thing to help your community,” Munoz said.
When Munoz was under stress from her research program, gardening and collaborating with her peers helped take her mind off it. Barbara Flores, biomedical senior, said the community is an important thing to care for.
“We are students that are able to gain this knowledge from class, and we apply it to our communities to make a difference within them,” Flores shared. “So, it’s important to use our knowledge to help provide our communities with the love and care it deserves.”
