Volunteers needed for ‘weeding blitz’ at Fruit Belt community garden

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Volunteers are being sought for a community gardening effort taking place June 16 across from Futures Academy in Buffalo.

As part of a longstanding initiative to help beautify Buffalo’s Fruit Belt neighborhood, the University at Buffalo’s Center for Urban Studies is organizing a “weeding blitz” from 1-4 p.m. in the community garden directly across from Futures Academy, 155 Orange St., Buffalo (map).

The main target of the weeding effort will be the berm, where the heaviest concentration of plants and flowers is located. During the spring, before the community garden is reopened, there is always a heavy overgrowth of weeds, explains Henry-Louis Taylor, Jr., PhD, director of UB’s Center for Urban Studies, part of UB’s Community Health Equity Research Institute. Taylor is also a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in UB’s School of Architecture and Planning.

Community members or organizations who would like to participate in the event, or who have questions, may contact A.S.M. Abdul Bari, program assistant for the Center for Urban Studies, at 716-829-5910, or asmbari@buffalo.edu.

The Center for Urban Studies in May held its 21st annual Fruit Belt Clean-a-Thon, during which volunteers did beautification work and picked up garbage over several blocks in the Fruit Belt.