City of Columbia

Volunteer of the Month for January 2015 – Kattie Anderson

Kattie Anderson, and her sons, Joseph who is 5 years old and Joshua who is 2 years old, understands all too well what it means to dig in and help in the community.  The City of Columbia is lucky to have Kattie and her sons diligently working in the WIC Community Garden.  The Community Garden allows members of the community to have their own garden plot to raise fruits and vegetables.   In addition, the garden is home to many educational classes and the produce grown is donated to WIC families. 

Kattie and her crew could be seen weekly throughout the growing season working in the garden!  They were out turning the soil, planting various seeds and transplants, pulling weeds, watering, and have now prepared it for the winter season.  Because of their hard work, the garden tripled its production and over 350 pounds of produce was donated to others.

Kattie started volunteering for the city due to her “desire to learn about gardening and thought it was also the perfect hands on work to do with her children while providing them with a life-long lesson”.   In Kattie’s opinion, she didn’t look at it as volunteering since her family was able to directly benefit from the garden.  In addition, “it was also an opportunity to get to know others in the community since Kattie is fairly new to the city.”  Kattie expressed her enthusiasm about her work and is “excited that the produce benefited so many families.” Kattie and her boys are already gearing up for next year!