Building A Black Belt Garden

Here's a press release I sent out today:

Boston Karate Students to Help Build "Black Belt Garden" in Local Green Space

Boston (Allston) MA — June 10, 2009. As part of their karate school's "Environmental Self-Defense" initiative, students enrolled at Boston's Emerald Necklace Martial Arts will be pulling weeds and planting trees and flowers along the Everett Street embankment in Allston on Saturday, June 20. Gardening work is scheduled to commence at 10:00 am.

"This area has been in need of a serious overhaul for a very long time," says Sensei Jason Gould, Chief Instructor at the Emerald Necklace dojo (karate school). I've always wanted to do something to help improve this strip of green space, and the opportunity for my students and I to really pitch in is finally here."

Earlier this spring, the city cleared the Everett Street green space of weed trees, trash, broken glass, and spare tires. Now that the area is clear, new oak, maple, and tupelo trees for the site are being donated by the Grow Boston Greener Initiative. The Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation will be providing trash bags, shovels, rakes, and work gloves for the planting, and Braintree Street Realty has committed to assist with ongoing maintenance of the site once work is complete. In addition to providing the volunteers for the physical labor, Gould's karate school is donating flowers to be planted at the site.

"My ultimate goal is to make this area into a Black Belt garden — an extension of our dojo," Gould continues. "Using nature as both our teacher and classroom, we can learn more about leadership, project management, organic gardening, and the power of teamwork to make a positive difference in our community. I hope that we'll also learn to better respect and appreciate our unbreakable connection to the earth, and I'm looking forward to working with other members of the community to make and keep this area a pristine source of local pride long after the plantings are in the ground."

Emerald Necklace Martial Arts would like to invite all members of the Allston-Brighton Community to help with the planned cleanup and planting along Everett Street on June 20. For more information about the event, please contact Sensei Jason Gould at 617-230-1973 or Ava Chan of the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation at 617-787-3874.

More information about Emerald Necklace Martial Arts can be found online at www.karateinboston.com. More information about the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation can be found online at http://www.allstonbrightoncdc.org/.

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