Rotary installs new Raíces greenhouse

The garden grew out of Next Door’s Nuestra Comunidad Sana program with the goal to “combat poverty through the development of leadership and financial literacy,” said Osborn.

“For the past eight years, Raíces has utilized land on Barker Road donated by a generous land owner for over 26 families to grow their own produce, with many selling their excess at the local Farmers Market (the first Latinos to do so locally) or to their friends and neighbors,” she said. “… The Raíces farmers realized that their growing potential is limited by the size of their single greenhouse.”

The greenhouse is used to grow plant starts for the annual Mother’s Day weekend plant sale, and in the fall to dry chilies grown during the summer months to sell to family and friends, Osborn said. Farmers had expressed an interest in using the greenhouse for other activities, but space was lacking.

And that’s where Rotary comes into the story.

Hood River Rotary raises funds each year for high school scholarships, as well as projects that benefit the community, with a focus on youth and disadvantaged populations. The greenhouse project came to be when Janet Hamada, executive director of The Next Door and a Rotarian, identified the need for a second greenhouse at the Raíces Community Garden Barker Road site, McElwee said.

The Public Service Committee secured funding for a total budget of $8,000 — $2,000 from the Rotary District 5100, $2,000 from Hood River Rotary Club Foundation and $4,000 from its 2018-2019 budget. Additionally, Lanes Excavating, Gorge Electric and Hood River Supply provided “very significant contributions of labor and materials,” he said.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of this month and will include gas and electric capabilities.