Rotary digs deep for primary school garden The club announced its school donation as part of the $40,000 it distributed to community projects last year.

Money doesn’t grow on trees but it does grow in the fertile soil of the Broadmeadows community where a local school will get a $2,500 donation for its gardens.

The Rotary Club of Broadmeadows (Victoria, Australia — District 9790) is giving money toward the Meadows Primary School’s gardening projects, including a veggie patch for kiddies to get their hands dirty while getting to enjoy eating their produce.

The club announced its school donation last week as part of the $40,000 it distributed to the community last year.

Charlie Grech, who last week took over from previous president Penny Copper, said small donations could make a big difference to projects run by local groups.

“We’re helping to make the community grow, bit by bit,” he said.

The club donations, funded by things like its opportunity shop run by Mary and Ray Jenkins, who raised $26,000 last year, has been distributed to diverse groups.

Meadows student Abdul said the garden meant “we have a chance to grow beautiful food”.

Fellow student Makaylah was delighted. “We get to grow vegetables that we wouldn’t grow at home.”

Han said he loved cooking the vegetables he had helped nuture.

“The garden gives us a chance to look after something and see it grow,” she said.

For Paul, the benefits were two-fold.

“The food that we plant in the garden we mostly use for cooking in the school kitchen,” he said.

“Sometimes we get to take what we grow home and our parents can cook it.”