Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Last October, a fellow Rotarian Patsy Jeanne Hemp and I conceived a garden project at the Boys & Girls Club. We both feel gardening can teach our youth so much—responsibility, teamwork, healthy and cost-effective eating.

We could not have accomplished this much without the generous donations from Roland Foster for tilling; Steve and Bettie Pugh for gravel and landscaping cloth; Kathryn Tatterson for planting soil; Brian and Julia Anderson for vegetable plants; Sterling Hudgins for discounting raised bed material; Rick "Top Soil Guy on 14" for discounted fill dirt; Lynda Smith for adding a "fun" fundraising option for the Tour de Chesapeake entrants, a "Poker Pedal." These folks help make Mathews a special place!

In 1996, through the generosity of the community, the Mathews youth center was conceived as a safe place for our kids to go after school. Their generosity has been appreciated by Mathews ever since. We feel the garden project helps con...