Bradley Creek Elementary School’s rain garden.
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, coastal education coordinator Ted Wilgis attended a check presentation hosted by the Cape Fear Garden Club. The garden club awarded the federation a $1,200 grant for its school yard rain garden program. The Cape Fear Garden Club, comprised entirely of volunteers, raised more than $80,000 from its Azalea Club’s 2016 Azalea Garden Tour and provided grants to 26 organizations and agencies. One of the largest and oldest in the country, the Cape Fear Garden Club has a long and rich history of philanthropy and stewardship.
The grant will be used for stewardship of the seven rain gardens and stormwater wetlands at Bradley Creek Elementary School and Alderman Elementary School. The projects serve as living classrooms at the schools, which are both Title I schools, with 64 percent and 96 percent, respectively, of their students being from low income families. The projects, part of the Bradley Creek and Hewletts Creeks Watershed Restoration Plan, also capture and infiltrate more than 120,000 gallons of stormwater runoff each time it rains.
Students work on the rain garden at Bradley Creek Elementary School.