Ralph Cowell, past president of the morning Rotary Club of The Villages, partnered with Hank Lander, from the Casselberry Rotary Club to help fund a very successful Aquaponics program for an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.
Cowell then conducted an area needs assessment and determined the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lake & Sumter Counties were interested in working with his Rotary to establish an Aquaponics Laboratory greenhouse. The structure will provide educational opportunities for local children regarding production of tilapia fish,organic vegetables and herbs, and will help provide good nutrition for Lake County families.
The children involved in the project range in age from six to sixteen and attend the public school on Rolling Acres Road in Lady Lake and The Villages Charter Schools. Additionally, the Rotary Club plus the Boys & Girls Clubs entered into a three-year agreement with Pastor Paul Harsh of the First Baptist Church of Lady Lake, which provided a site for the project. This church also generously provides after-school meeting places for the BGC’s programs at their CR 466 location.
A fourth active non-profit partner is Morning Star Fishermen from Dade City, Florida. They run a large Aquaponics farm and provide hands-on classroom instruction on Aquaponics construction & farming. Morning Star will also be an educational consultant and trainer for this project.
Freddy Williams, the area CEO for the BGCLSC is very excited about the food production and educational value of this project. Freddy has hired and trained Stephen Alderman and Jacob Hayes as team leaders to move the project forward.
The morning Rotary Club of The Villages donated $8,000, collected through fundraisers and district grants, for the greenhouse, tanks, plant beds and other requisite supplies. Rotarian David Reed spent countless hours as aquaponics project manager, researching and drawing up project plans with the help of many other club members. Labor as well as donations of building materials have come from generous local companies which support the Boys & Girls clubs.
”This project teaches our children that food doesn’t come from boxes or McDonald’s,” Freddy Williams said. “Good healthy food comes from God, from the soil, the water, from seeds and from people who nurture them,” said Pastor Paul Harsh. Bill Backman, from Morning Star Fisherman spoke about successful Aquaponics projects they have built in Togo, West Africa, at an orphanage for kids who became blind due to malnutrition. “They grow their own vegetables and fish, and also collect rainwater and do worm farming, to aerate their soil,” Backman said. “Projects like this represent worldwide evangelism. The project feeds 250 people in Togo, and will soon grow excess food for them to sell to neighbors and prosper.”
Aquaponics is a food production system which combines conventional aquaculture (the raising of aquatic animals, like fish, snails and prawns, in tanks), with hydroponics (the cultivation of plants in water) in a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) environment. These techniques are not new. They have ancient roots which date back centuries to the Aztecs in the Americas and to South East Asian cultures.
The goal of everyone involved is to use this Aquaponics Laboratory as a showcase that other groups can duplicate to help children in need in Rotary District 6980 and other communities. Pastor Harsh envisions expansion of the project beyond their laboratory. “Local people may want to grow their own food, to feed their families, stave off rising food prices, and share with their communities,” Pastor Harsh said. ”There is no reason why anyone should go hungry when a little fish, a little water and a desire to succeed can provide good, nutritious food, Backman added.
“Our kids today are constantly connected to techie things and don’t touch plants or the earth anymore,” said Michelle Purl, outreach coordinator for BGCLS. “This project leads them to understand where good food comes from, to actually grow food, and we will also give them cooking lessons.”
