Palmetto High School incoming senior Ryan Rosner worked with a friend to create a garden at the Miami Rescue Mission that is not only beautiful but productive. That garden was the first for the community service project called Rescue Garden.
“We’re making sustainable gardens,” he says. “I’ve noticed rescue shelters, they have large plots of land. So, we are trying to create sustainable gardens and supplemental healthy food for the shelter.”
Rosner and his Rescue Garden co-founder Joseph Kravetz, planted vegetables that are being used in the Rescue Mission kitchens.
“We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, radishes, and we also do herbs,” he says. “Those were the four main vegetables we’ve done so far.”
They have also worked with Rescue Mission residents who are transitioning from being homeless to help care for the garden when he and his friend can’t go to weed or water the garden.
“We are providing the residents an opportunity to give back to the shelter,” he says.
He’s been interested in helping those in need for years. He’s been volunteering at the Rescue Mission shelter since eighth grade.
They also want to incorporate a beautification project for the shelter.
“We’re trying to put flowers and other things to make the shelters look nicer,” he says.
So far, they have planted one garden, but they hope to plant several more.
Rosner had this idea for the shelter since fifth grade.
“I didn’t look on to it, until high school,” he says. “He (Kravetz) decided to co-found (the project) with me. Then it took off. We had planned for over a year.”
The first garden started out at 72-square feet, but they are expanding it. It is a raised bed organic garden. He says the next garden might not be raised because of costs.
Funding for the garden came from the sale of wrist bands at school and the shelter. They also received a thousand-dollar donation from Publix. They’ve talked to other businesses and received positive responses.
He and Kravetz were able to involve friends from the National Honor Society at school to come out and get involved in the garden project.
They also went on public radio for an interview about the garden and the need for more volunteers.
“We’re still emailing the other shelters,” he says.
In the meantime, Miami Rescue Mission officials say they have two other shelters that could use gardens.
For his bar mitzvah project, he collected blankets, clothing, hygienic items and diapers that were donated to women’s and children’s shelters.
At Palmetto, Rosner is in Mu Alpha Theta, the Jewish Student Union, and he’s the incoming president of the Social Science Honor Society. Rosner is a member of the History Bowl team and competes in math competitions. He’s also a member of the badminton team and previously participated in crew with the Miami Rowing Club.
As a member of the Student Council Senate, he was elected as co-chair of a new security council that was created to make sure students feel safe at school. The council will look at health and mental health issues, as well as making sure school facilities are clean and safe.
“Because of recent events, people have a lot of feelings about over-all school safety,” he says. “We want to make sure everyone feels comfortable within school walls.”
This summer he’s traveling to the Galapagos for environmental conservation and service. Scuba diving and the environment are some of his interests.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
