It was a bitter-sweet celebration for Jardin Éducatif du Pontiac as they held its annual BBQ end-of-summer event. After seven weeks with the kids it is time to send them off to enjoy the rest of their summer and then off to school they go.

“It’s a good occasion for parents and the community to come and see the work that the youth have made all summer. It gives the kids a sense of accomplishment,” said Martin Riopel, the general director.

Jardin Éducatif du Pontiac work with their campers all . . .

summer teaching them life skills through gardening. So this BBQ was a chance to have fun with their summer campers and recognize their hardwork.

Through their different prgrams, Jardin Éducatif du Pontiac aims to help prevent school dropout and social dropout for youth between the ages of eight to 17. Their summer camp program starts in June and ends in August. This year they had about 24 campers join. Riopel explained their camp is unique in the region because it provides a camp for seven weeks as well as the fact that they hold it for youth who are a bit older.

The bilingual program is geared around ecological gardening where the campers work in the garden most mornings doing things like weeding, picking fruits and vegetables, and planting some seeds as well as any garden related tasks. Sometimes they even help out at the kiosk selling produce, explained Riopel.

In the afternoon the camp holds workshops for the kids around drug prevention, bullying, mental health, and gender and sexual identity. They also invite guests like Little Rays Reptiles and go on day trips to the city, he said.

The end of summer BBQ and fundraiser is mostly for the families of the campers and others to come and learn about what their camp does, although they raise money it’s mostly to showcase the kids accomplishments and to show the community what the camp offers, said Riopel.

When asked why the camp is centred around gardening and what it teaches the kids, Riopel said: “what I’m doing here, I think it’s to show them that we are able to grow good food with good quality and being able to do it from the seed to the plant and harvest the produce and be happy about it.” He also added it teaches them about working together and team work, buying local, to garden with less impact on the environment and that they too can do this for themselves.

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