Gardening being used to help special needs individuals

There’s always something to be done at Lynchburg Grows’ base of operations, the old Schenkel farm property off Fort Avenue.

Dereck Cunningham, president, co-founder and farm manger, usually starts his days there at around 8 a.m. The first item on his agenda is to open the vents in each of the nine greenhouses.

“I have to make sure it doesn’t get too hot too quickly,” he says.

Then he starts watering the crops, mostly organic vegetables and flowers, and figures out what needs to get done before the staff and volunteers arrive.

The rest of the day, you’ll often find Cunningham bounding around the property, doing any number of things. Cunningham, who was born with spina bifida, uses two crutches, and as he moves around the property, you can hear the clink, clink as they hit the ground.

“I’ve taught myself to do tricks with them. It’s like they’re a part of me,” he says, adding that he often surprises people with his dexterity, “especially when they see me hopping over the tops of (flower) beds (in the greenhouse).”

Before getting involved with Lynchburg Grows, a nonprofit group whose goal is to help at-risk and special needs individuals through gardening, Cunningham’s only experience with it was working in his grandparents’ garden as a child.

Today, time spent in the garden is like a form of meditation for him.

“It’s a time to let your mind wander,” he says. “It’s an easy stress release.”

Cunningham founded Lynchburg Grows in 2003 with John Wormuth, Scott Lowman and Michael Van Ness. Wormuth came to Cunningham, who was running a stained glass business at the time, with the idea.

“He wanted to do something that would help special needs individuals through gardening,” says Cunningham, who liked the idea and promptly signed up to help.

Since then, their mission has grown to include educating the public, especially children, on gardening and local food, and providing job experience and opportunities. To that end, they create nutrition and food programs for elementary schools, implement a vocational training program for disabled and low-income people, and organize workshops for anyone interested in gardening.

They bought the Schenkel farm in 2006. The Schenkels ran a large rose growing operation there for about 50 years, and Lynchburg Grows still grows the original roses in one of the greenhouses.

“The Schenkels saw that we wanted to keep the place in its original state as much as possible,” Cunningham says.

The staff also appreciates the history of the farm. Four of the greenhouses, each of which measures 200 feet in length, were built in the 1920s and are still standing in good condition today. They’re made of cypress wood, which Cunningham says is the best wood for water resistance.

The majority of Lynchburg Grows’ crops are the vegetables, which they sell at the Lynchburg Community Market every Saturday. The only exception is the first Saturday of the month, when they host an open house, selling flowers and vegetables, and conducting workshops for the public.

In addition to the farm, Lynchburg Grows also has four plots around the city, two on Daniels Hill and two on Monroe Street. Their goal is to create gardens there that would eventually be maintained by the communities.

Students working in the farm’s greenhouses aren’t an uncommon sight. Right now, Cunningham says they’re working with at-risk youth from Rivermont Day School and special needs students at E.C. Glass High School.

“It gives them a place where they can not feel like they have to be on guard all the time,” he says. “They can relax and learn things they don’t always come across.”

Cunningham’s own life story likely inspires the volunteers and students. When the Gladys native, an Altavista High School graduate, was born, doctors estimated he’d only live to be 12 years old. He turns 37 next month.

Growing up, Cunningham looked up to his grandfather, a double amputee.

“Seeing his strength and will-power kind of inspired me to not let things limit me and to at least give an effort to see what my threshold is.”

He says he hopes the Lynchburg Grows volunteers don’t set limits on what they can achieve either.

“Individuals with special needs, whatever that is, would love to give back to the community, and this is one way that we can allow them to do that.”

In addition to harvesting the vegetables once or twice a week, the Lynchburg Grows staff also does their own composting, mostly with woodchips, leaves and manure.

They also donate food to Daily Bread, and sell produce to five area restaurants and about 60 regular clients, who participate in their food co-op program.

Cunningham says he hopes more people will start to support locally grown produce. Take broccoli, for example: As soon as you cut it, Cunningham says, it starts to lose its nutritional value.

“The more locally grown your produce is, the healthier it is,” he says.

Recently, Lynchburg Grows came up with one more way to reach the community. They formed the Lynchburg Grows Players, an acting troupe made up of the group’s volunteers.

“It’s not really in the vein of our gardening, but it’s a really good experience. It’s energizing,” says Susan Wood, the troupe’s director. “It’s a good outlet for our volunteers.”

They’d scheduled a performance of “Beauty and the Beast” in March, but had to cancel it when licensing issues came up. Wood says they plan to do some Broadway Junior shows for the public in the future, and Cunningham says they’d eventually like to perform their own original productions.

“We try to keep it fun,” he says, “kind of a low-key, relaxed atmosphere.”