The project will also include an educational aspect where children are taught about the importance of growing their own fruits and vegetables along with coal mining history of the Wyoming Valley and even nutrition. Laura Rinehimer, Watershed Outreach Education Specialist at EPCAMR, explained, “This project provides an opportunity for youth to learn about plants first-hand through engaging in the process of growing vegetables from seed to table.” Rinehimer is responsible for creating a multidisciplinary, standards aligned curriculum for the project that will be provided to area teachers in the targeted school districts we would like to work with in the Wyoming Valley.  In addition to the Growboxxes^© and gardening supplies, several iPads will also be distributed to local schools so that they can share their experiences with children around the world through a concurrent project taking place in Ethiopia. Claudia Meglin is managing the project for Inquiring Systems, Inc. “We are looking forward to deepening our collaboration with EPCAMR to empower communities that have suffered under the demise of capitalistic extraction”.  Additionally, a documentary will be filmed to monitor the growth of the project, run by videographer John Welsh.

The mission of the grant is to help youth in the coal region reclaim their backyards. This region was heavily extracted for Anthracite coal for nearly 200 years. Many of the miners lived in company houses and already spent the majority of their earned income at the company store through the use of scrips. In order to become more self-sustaining people grew their own foods in patchwork gardens. In doing so, they reclaimed their freedom from the mining companies. “While EPCAMR normally focuses on reclaiming land and polluted mine water, this project will allow us to reclaim the backyards of residents located in previously mining impacted areas and provide families with an option to garden together and grow some healthy food options much like the mining families of the past,” said Executive Director at EPCAMR, Bobby Hughes.

Today, children in the region face a different type of oppression. 58% of individuals lie below the poverty level. For families with no transportation, often times, the easiest and cheapest food options are fast food or processed food options from local convenient stores. The focus area for the project can be seen as a food desert in many ways and it is difficult for people without vehicles to make trips to grocery stores to obtain nutritious, fresh fruits and vegetables. By teaching kids to grow their own food, it will help reclaim the freedom to eat healthy and make informed nutrition choices.

EPCAMR plans to partner with local Luzerne County children in the 4^th grade class in the following schools and organizations: The Graham Academy, Wilkes-Barre Area, Nanticoke Area and Hanover Area. Mt. Zion Baptists Church youth and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church youth from the Greater Wilkes-Barre Area will also be involved. Staff will be reaching out to the School Districts and the Churches shortly. EPCAMR is patiently awaiting the arrival of 200 Growboxxes. If it is successful with the classrooms that we will be looking to work with, we will be making an appeal to Groasis to provide us with additional Growboxxes to get them to each of the other 4th grade classes in each of the school districts to reach even more youth and families in the Wyoming Valley. A pilot program will start in the fall with the full-blown program commencing in the spring.  For more information on the project, contact EPCAMR at (570) 371-3522.

A lemon tree in combination with melons using Growboxx technologies to flourish.

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The second plot 20 native seedlings that is planned is along a small tributary of the Solomon Creek, known by EPCAMR as Nockley’s tributary, based on their watershed assessment work completed on this impaired section of stream that feeds the main stem of Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre, PA. EPCAMR will be working with the local landowner, Frank Nockley, who’s brother Dave, owns Nockley’s Pharmacy, in Hanover Township, along S. Main Street to gain access to the site with his permission to improve the riparian corridor and habitat of the tributary, which is in need of stream restoration work. A small dedication ceremony is also going to be planned for the Nockley tributary location, in honor of Abe Coolbaugh, an avid hunter and fisherman, who grew up in the Wilkes-Barre Area. A small plaque in his name will be placed on one of the larger surrounding trees in the stream corridor thanks to a financial contribution from the South Wilkes-Barre Mini-Mohawks Football Program.  EPCAMR will be putting out a call for Tree Planters for this project! If interested, please let us know.

Now on its second year, the Waterboxx Project is a three year research effort to study the effectiveness and value of the Groassis Waterboxx in various terrains, mine lands, and climates found in the mountainous regions of the United States. The Waterboxx, an ‘intelligent water incubator,’ produces and captures water from the air through condensation and rain, increasing survival prospects for tree seedlings planted in harsh environments. Monitoring will occur at the initial planting and continue once every month for a total of twelve (12) months. Each monitoring instance by EPCAMR will be as near to thirty (30) days apart as is reasonable feasible.

EPCAMR’s Waterboxx Project has an educational component or activity to it.  The educational programs and tours that will be provided to local elementary schools in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District will educate students on native seedlings, stream restoration techniques, use of the Waterboxx technology, water conservation, and stream corridor restoration. These activities will allow EPCAMR to promote our goals/mission as well as clearly define the purpose of the project and its importance to the local community. More importantly, it will lay the foundation for future stewards of our environment.

For more information about volunteering, contact Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director at 570-371-3523 or rhughes@epcamr.org 

The OSM/VISTA Teams are coalitions of change-minded grassroots-level watershed improvement groups determined to repair the environmental degradation left from pre-regulatory mining while creating economic stability needed in rural communities. The OSM/VISTA Teams are a partnership between the Office of Surface Mining and AmeriCorps VISTA. The ACCT sponsors 32 OSM/VISTAs throughout 7 states in the Appalachian Region and is headquartered in Beckley, WV. The WHWT sponsors 27 OSM/VISTAs across Colorado and New Mexico and is headquartered in Durango, CO.

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