On Monday January 16th employees of MedBridge honored the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering their time and resources to Harding Elementary School in Santa Barbara, CA. Harding Elementary is in the Westside neighborhood which has been identified as a “high poverty tract” where there is a child poverty rate of about 38 percent. This neighborhood only has two health & human services and this elementary school is significantly under-resourced.
MedBridge installed a “Native Peoples & Plants” themed landscape area with the assistance of Los Angeles based architect Douglas Stanton who created the plans for the space and donated his time for the day of the project.
The landscape consists of native Californian drought tolerant plants, trees and shrubbery that where generously donated by San Marcos Growers in Goleta, CA. All plants are labeled throughout the space, providing children with an educational opportunity to learn more about native plants.
Various size boulders and gravel native to the region were also placed throughout the space. Much of the rock needed for the project was donated by Standard Building Materials and Santa Barbara Stone.
Native American hieroglyphs are also painted throughout the space to provide kids with a fun area to explore where they can translate their classroom learnings into real-world application.
Logs and stumps, donated by Warrecker Brothers Vista Tree Service provide kids with a fun space to read and play.
A mural adjacent to the space was also painted with the help of a local muralist and Paul of Perfection Painting.
