The Community Garden

1st prize
Students from the After-School Program accept their first place ribbon for the best children’s garden in DELCO.

Award Winning CEI Gardens

The CEI Children’s Garden and Community Garden are important staples in the organization and the community. Our dedicated volunteers and students from out Out of School Time Programs keep the Childlren’s Garden tuned finely, and their activities are a part of the lesson plans in the programs. Students prepare the soil, plant the seeds, nurture them as they grow, harvest them in the fall – and then cook and take them home to share with their families.

The Community Garden expanded in 2023 and provides over a ton of produce each year that supplements the Open Cupboard. We offer ten plots to neighbors so they might grow their own produce to enjoy all summer long. part of the After School Program, help supply the Food Pantry and the “Pay As You Can” Vegetable Stand. The students also take a portion of the harvest home to their families or it is used during the nutrition/health eating segment of the After School Program. In the garden’s true community spirit, several beds are tended by local families.

In 2024 the garden produced 1392 pounds of food that was distributed to the wider community. 

Most excitingly, the Children’s Garden was awarded first place by the Penn State Delaware County Master Gardeners in 2025, for the fourth consecutive year. The Comunity Garden won a silver medal at the same ceremony.

A smiling young girl holds an orange watering can. Another girl is to her left holding a green watering can.
A pile of dirt on a lot covered with wood shavings. There are pallets in the rear and a white truck parked to the left.
Community garden with boxes filled with plants and plant supports
Plants growing in a community garden
Community garden boxes with multiple types of plants planted in them
An adult supervising 5 children working in a community garden box
A white woman with brown hair wearing a blue cardigan, blue shirt and sweatpants. A striped bag is slung across her body. Her left hand is full of berries and she is leaning on a cane with her right.
A green plastic bag filled with tomatoes
A pink flower in full bloom in front of plants growing in water
A Hispanic boy wearing a white shirt and yellow shorts. He has his hands raised and is wearing blue gardening gloves
A white man with white hair touching a leaf of a large plant in a community garden box