The Clinton Community Garden is one of the most beloved places throughout Laurens County, and is getting recognized for its useful purpose.

Students from Dr. Justin Brent’s Health Communication course will be holding a Clinton Community Garden party on Sunday, April 3rd from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM at 1245 South Bell Street. The main goal of the party is to educate and strengthen local residents through one common item: food.

“The purpose of this event is to promote a fun way to learn about health, see what the Clinton Community Garden has to offer, meet people from the area and to learn about ways to volunteer at the garden,” student Lillian Humphries said, who is in Brent’s Health Comm course.

The garden has been a staple in the city of Clinton for a long time, thanks in part to sponsorships with local businesses and organizations.  

A major benefit to the garden has been the promotion of healthy food, which includes carrots, lettuce, and peppers. According to Humphries, the need for strong-home grown vegetables has been lacking in the area for a long time.

“The Clinton Community Garden was originally placed because in this area, there was nowhere to get healthy foods within walking distance. Dr. Brent wanted his health communications class to volunteer with the garden in order to learn about Health Promotion Campaigns,” Humphries said. “Our class has enjoyed learning about HPC’s and implementing what we have learned into this Garden Party to show the community the importance of health.”

The class has spent a lot of time this semester learning about Health Promotion Campaigns, and this party is just one opportunity the class has to showcase the main missions of these efforts.

“Preparing for this event has been learning what exactly is a Health Promotion Campaign. We have volunteered time into the garden to dig up weeds, plant foods, and to promote the event itself. We have reached out to several groups to help, like the PC Pharmacy School who will be coming out to do free health screenings,” Humphries said.

The party will have a number of events for people to enjoy, including music, free health screenings, fun activities for kids, and free food.

While the party will cover a number of areas, the main focus for Humphries is to not only promote healthy food options, but to live by one of Presbyterian College’s most famous mottos, something she encourages the campus to strongly consider partaking in.

“PC’s motto is ‘While we live we serve,’ so for PC students to come out and support this event, they can not only learn about healthy living but also about ways to serve the Clinton community in the garden,” Humphries concluded.