The Heart of Lubbock Community Garden is a free community garden, but last week, residents noticed some items missing. Some yard supplies and plants, such as tomato cages, extra large pots and a full grape plant, were gone.
“Stealing from a community garden – a free community garden – is like stealing from yourself,” said Beth Roesler, director of the community garden.
The garden is planted with carrots, spinach and flowers.
“This is here for you. This is here for everyone, so it’s sad when people are using it inappropriately,” said Roesler.
They have to replace more than $150 worth of supplies and plants. It may not seem like a lot, but the Heart of Lubbock Community Garden is a nonprofit and only gets money from donations.
“The grape plant was about $13, but it was already starting to grow and it was really healthy. A lot of these things are not.. they’re replaceable, but it’s more the amount of effort and energy we all put into it that is taken away from us,” she said. “All the volunteers here work really really hard, so it’s disappointing to see their work go to something like that.”
This garden has been around for five years without any problems. It’s a place to promote nutrition and outdoor activities, and it teaches volunteers how to grow their own food.
“When people act in unity for a common purpose, it helps reduce crime rates and it helps promote the neighborhood,” Roesler said. “It helps improve. It helps improve the interest of the neighborhood.”
Organizers say it was a disappointment, but something they’ll learn from.
“We want to take this time to ask people to be more involved, to keep an eye out more often, so that there’s people here frequently enough to prevent things like this from happening,” said Roesler.
If you know the whereabouts of the stolen items or if you want to get involved with the garden, you can contact them on their Facebook page here.