Stolen wood leads to outpouring of generosity at Oak St. Community Garden

What could have been a nightmare scenario for volunteers with the Oak Street Community Garden has ended happily.

Plans had been made to build two raised planters for those with accessibility issues, and $800 worth of wood had been ordered to build the planters, which in the current environment was difficult to procure.

“The order had finally come through after months of waiting for it,” Oak Street Community Garden Lead Farmer Tim Lyon said. “We had paid out of the community garden fund, then when we arrived Friday to do the work, the lumber we had ordered was all gone.”

With their drills and saws charged, volunteers couldn’t believe their eyes as they went to pick up the first piece of lumber on Friday, Apr. 23, 2021.

“We literally had our drills and saws charged, looked up to pick up the first pieces of lumber and the pile was no longer there,” Lyons said.

“I put a call out immediately along with a police report, I also reported it on the Kingscourt neighbourhood page on Facebook and the response was immediate.”

And overwhelming. Within a few hours, enough money had been raised to purchase a new order of lumber, and one generous person even placed a new order themselves.

As for the planters themselves, they were designed by a member of the community garden. The raised planters have a bench to sit on to help with accessibility.

“Because the design was so good and we had space here alongside the gravel bed that is accessible, we wanted to put in as much right here so that more people could use it.”

With the new load of lumber in hand, the two new planters will be built with the help of students from Kingston Secondary School and ready to use immediately. Ending what could have been a sad story for the community garden.