This summer, our middle and high school students will be taking part in “The Veggie Project”. “The Veggie Project”, sponsored by Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, is going into its 5 ^th year and provides fresh, locally grown produce to youth and their families in Nashville’s food deserts. The Calvin House youth wrote small resumes answering why they wish to join the Veggie Project along with what skills they could offer and further develop. Through hand-selecting these talented students, we amassed our Veggie Project Leadership Team. Once a week, these youth at the Calvin House sell produce to friends and family of their community. Not only do our youth provide fresh fruits and vegetables, but they are also learning valuable business skills such as marketing and advertising, customer service, and other small business trades. For rising senior Jamie Dunn, the Veggie Project is a perfect opportunity to gain valuable business experience before applying to colleges. Each time our youth work the veggie stand, they earn two “veggie bucks” which they can spend on any fruit or vegetable of their choice. The produce ranges from kale to watermelon, while peaches are the fruit of choice for many of our workers. For myself, visiting the veggie stand not only provides me with fresh produce, but it also gives me a chance to see the youth interacting in their own community. They enjoy waving their colorful signs at cars passing by or screaming across the street at people walking home from work. Each worker runs to the customers, hoping to be the first one there and able to assist in selecting and recording the produce. For more information, you can visit www.childrenshospital.vanderbilt.org/veggieproject. Come out to the Preston Taylor Community Center (3900 Clifton Avenue) every Wednesday until July 27th from 4:00-6:00 and get your fresh produce from our talented youth!