Charging the Gardens! will bring solar powered electricity to four community gardens.  Community residents will be trained to maintain and install these systems as well as support the ongoing gardening. 

East New York, Brooklyn is home to over 50 community gardens, lovingly kept up by community residents.  These spaces help mitigate the heat island affect in this densely populated community, where many people do not have air conditioning.  They also provide fresh air and safe places for people to hold socially distant events.  But these gardens are always in need of additional workers, especially because many of the most dedicated gardeners are seniors.  The infrastructure of the spaces needs improvements and funds are often hard to come by. Our project, Charging the Gardens!, will bring solar powered electricity to four community gardens.  Whereas the gardens know have to rely either on running extension cords from  houses to power their lawnmowers and other tools or use fuel burning generators, the solar powered generators will provide clean, renewable electricity right in the gardens.   In addition to powering tools, the generators will enable evening programs with sound, lights and even  movie projection, allowing for additional participation by community members.