ULV Orientation Includes Community Service

Before they begin burying their heads in books and pulling out needed knowledge, a group of incoming freshmen from the University of La Verne spent much of Saturday burying their hands in dirt and pulling out weeds in a vegetable garden at the Glendora home of Vicki Brown, the CEO and founder of Sowing Seeds for Life, a regional food bank based in La Verne.

The project was part of the mandatory community service required during the university’s five-day orientation, which was to conclude Sunday, Aug. 24. Community service is something that is both required of and encouraged for students throughout their time at the University of La Verne.

Brown’s home was just one of the sites used to fulfill the community service requirement for incoming freshmen.

“It’s just wonderful seeing these young people work so hard on a hot day,” said Brown, who offered swim suits to those who wanted to cool off in her swimming pool.

Brown’s plan for the area that sits atop a hill behind her home is to have a garden that will help provide produce for the some 6,000 people per month who rely on Sowing Seeds for Life for food, water and a variety of services.

Besides the garden, also scheduled for the hilltop plot of land is a hydroponic greenhouse that was donated a couple of years ago. University of La Verne undergraduates were the one who originally took the greenhouse apart and transported it from Covina. Reconstructing it has turned into a difficult project, but Brown is confident it will be done.

The primary crops grown in a hydroponic greenhouse without the use of soil include peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, herbs, and strawberries.

There were 16 students involved in Saturday’s project at Brown’s home. Also taking part were Associate Provost Beatriz Gonzalez and Sociology Professor Joseph Cabrera. The students were:

• Sinclaire Stretch;
• Victoria Perez;
• T.J. Randall;
• Daniel Mantilla;
• Alexis Dragus;
• Tyler Hernandez;
• Julie Duong;
• Brooke Grasso;
• Corey Redeaux;
• Brent Beohm;
• Gabriela Duque;
• Nathan Carroll;
• Alexander Campbell;
• Rayhan Rahman and
• Amy Elzik

Sowing Seeds for Life, founded in 2007, conducts food pantry giveaways on the first and third Wednesday of every month from 3 p.m. t o 5 p.m. in the DPI Labs parking lot at 1350 Arrow Highway in La Verne.

Brown is also the CEO of DPI Labs, an aerospace manufacturing company.

Joining in for the accompanying photo were Brown, kneeling in green shirt and next to this reporter. The photo was taken by Greg DeSmet.