Providing resources to the Greater Fulton community of Richmond, Virginia

Join us this Saturday, June 27, for our next Run to the River training walk. We will meet at the NRC at 7:15 am, and leave the center at 7:30am. We will take either the 10K or the 5K route depending on the desires of the group. Don’t forget your water bottle and sunscreen! The NRC is located at 1519 Williamsburg Road.

The families of 16 preschool children join NRC staff and board members in thanking everyone who took time to email, write, or call their City Council representative and/or the Mayor to advocate for the restoration of city funds to the NRC’s preschool. 7th District City Councilwoman Betty Squire did a wonderful job convincing her peers to fully fund the NRC’s sliding-scale Montessori Preschool. We extend our sincere thanks to each and every member of Council and to Mayor Jones for acknowledging and honoring community support for the preschool. City funds represent one fourth of the total preschool budget. Preschool parents understood the math. They left work early and overcame their fear of media. One after another, preschool parents lined up to tell TV reporters about the difference “that little school” is making in their child’s life. We are proud of them and grateful for a city government that listens and acts on behalf of its constituency.

Yours in community,
Mary Lou Decossaux
Annette Cousins
Co-Directors of the Neighborhood Resource Center

Stop by the NRC today from 4 – 6pm for fresh vegetables and herbs from our organic garden. On sale today we have: lettuce, radishes, turnips, spinach, swiss chard red and white, collards, sugar snap peas, snow peas and more. All proceeds will go to the NRC Government class for upcoming field trips. Stop by!

Yesterday, kids created delicious salads of their own with fresh-picked greens and herbs from the garden. Working with Tricycle Gardens Environmental Educator and Horticulturist, Allison Mesnard, and After-School Programs Coordinator, Penny, the kids are learning about how to plant, grow and tend organic fruits, vegetables and plants in the garden. The kids learn some ecology and biology basics, too. Plus, kids learn how to prepare nutritious meals and eat foods many have never had before.

The girls made fresh salads and their own salad dressings, too! Tasty!

A stealthy intruder with an epicurean appetite has been making midnight raids in the NRC Learning Garden.  The theif was caught red-handed, devouring tasty lettuces, greens and other organic delectables.  Using a handy and humane trap, Ashley tempted the furry gastronome with a trail of strawberry stems and lettuce. The preschool kids got to check out the marauder before Penny set him free in a new location. Many thanks to Rebecca Fralin for loaning us her critter catcher.

Field trip Fridays continue with an excursion out to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. The girls had a great time making special fairy houses with flowers, twigs and other found materials in the garden. In addition, they had a chance to explore the beautiful gardens and look out over the lake through the tree house.