THE Hope Botanical Gardens came to life recently when students from Swallowfield Primary and Junior High School joined volunteers from Citi Jamaica for a day of play and learning as part of the financial institution’s Global Community Day activities. Global Community Day marks Citi’s annual day of service which sees the organisation helping to build thriving communities, enabling growth and progress.

The group of over 30 curious and eager fourth to sixth graders received interactive sessions on the flora and design of the Chinese Garden; seed germination and composting; and on potting plants and plant care, at the end of which they received their own “plant-pets” in pots they creatively customised.

Citi Country Officer Eva Lewis noted, “We all know the environmental benefits of preserving nature. With our Global Community Day initiative, we are reminding the young students that trees help clean the air we breathe, purify waterways, control erosion, beautify our surroundings and provide food and habitat for wildlife. We are hoping that each child takes the lessons learned today and share the planting culture at home and school.”

This year, Citi Jamaica partnered with longstanding local partners at the United Way of Jamaica to deliver a session that would treat children from vulnerable communities to a memorable experience, while imparting lessons they could use at home.

“When Citi contacted us about this project, we were both very intentional about what impression we wanted to have on the young minds involved,” noted Taneshia Stoney Dryden, chief executive officer at United Way of Jamaica.

“We wanted a session that required the enthusiastic volunteers from Citi to be hands-on and engaged with the students. We also wanted the session to be usefully informative. Based on the delight of the children by the end of the day, we can say we were successful in creating a lasting core memory.”

Other partners that helped to make the session a success included the Jamaica Agricultural Society who led the demonstration on seedlings and potting, and Hope Botanical Gardens who generously matched the curiosity of the children with information about the space.