On May 15, 2021 Guilford Garden Club (GGC) undertook a plant rescue mission.  The St. Francis Neighborhood Center (SFNC), a Baltimore non-profit organization whose mission is to end generational poverty, had raised millions of dollars for a building expansion and renovation project, but their gardens were rooted in the construction path.  That sunny May day, GGC members joined community volunteers and SFNC staff to dig up SFNC’s flowers and transplant them down the street in German Park, a popular neighborhood gathering space.

GGC, SFNC staff, and community volunteers united again in October 2021 to help the non-profit organization reclaim and beautify their grounds post-construction with a new garden designed by GGC.  Heavy equipment left behind compact, hard soil but intrepid gardeners swung pick axes and installed a lovely variety of native plants and shrubs, including serviceberry trees, Allegheny Viburnum, Coreopsis, Inkberry Holly, Amsonia Blue Ice, and Heavy Metal Switchgrass.

Torbin Green, the Executive Director of SFNC, eagerly coordinated both the plant rescue mission and installation of the new garden 2021, but he is an orchardist at heart and longed for more fruiting plants.  On May 19, 2022 GGC members, SFNC staff and students, and community volunteers again wielded their pick axes and planted three apple trees donated by the Baltimore Orchard Project (BOP) and ten blueberry bushes provided by GGC.  Future plans include tucking bulbs all around SFNC to offer early spring hope and color.  We look forward to the continued fruitfulness of the GGC and SFNC partnership!