Kennedy’s Story - Creating a Community Garden during a pandemic
My friend Maddie and I went down to the park, we saw how damaged it was and we wanted to fix it. When we got home we looked up who to contact about fixing the park. We found the chairman of Madison parks I think and we sent a letter to his office, a few weeks later I got an email from him. It said that he was happy to hear my concern and would do his best to help me. After a bit of back and forth through emails, he told me that there wouldn't be much we could do until the town of Madison becomes the city of Madison but he did recommend Noemy to help with a community garden in the meantime. We did the planning in the winter and in the spring we planted our stuff. I planted pumpkins, peas, and green beans. The pumpkins and the beans took over the peas. It was some work but I did it and we got a lot of beans and about 4 pumpkins. It was hard work but picking the vegetables felt good and because of that I will do it again next year.
Charles’s Story - Project Solis
Over the past two years, West Green Club has raised over $160,000 towards Project Solis, including contributions from individuals (parents, alumni, community members), local businesses, and foundations (including the Madison Community Foundation, Madison Trust, and Therese Foundation). Furthermore, the Couillard Solar Foundation has agreed to provide an in-kind donation of physical solar panels.
West Green Club is currently working alongside MMSD staff to advance this project. Upon completion, we expect Project Solis to be worth roughly $200,000, resulting in the installation of a 100 kW solar panel system on the roof of Madison West High School. This system will account for approximately 5% of Madison West High School’s energy consumption, generating over $20,000 each year in electricity savings for the school district. A Request For Proposal will likely be submitted in Fall 2019, and the system will be installed during the Winter Break of 2019 or the Spring Break of 2020.
As Project Solis approaches the end of its fundraising stage, any amount of support is greatly valued and appreciated. Scroll down to learn more about this youth-led initiative and make a financial contribution below.
*As of 2019. The solar panels were successfully installed in 2020.