St. Mary Catholic Secondary School

Dear Students of St. Mary,

I am happy to share an exciting and very important initiative being led by our Catholic School Council: the restoration of the St. Mary Biblical Gardens at the main entrance of our school on Whitney Avenue. This project will help strengthen our community and promote good stewardship of God’s creation.

The first step of the project is a garden clean-up event scheduled for Saturday, October 26th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. We are inviting student volunteers, particularly from leadership groups such as the Eco Club, Student Council, and Prefects, to participate. Students will earn up to 5 Christian service hours for their involvement, and a light lunch will be provided. Students can sign up to volunteer by clicking here. 

In preparation for the event, we are also asking for loaned gardening tools. If you are able to lend tools, please ensure they are labeled with your name so they can be returned. Additionally, I have reached out to the City of Hamilton to provide us with gloves, bags, and other materials, but we would appreciate donations of these items as well.

This initial garden clean-up marks the beginning of a longer-term project. We may require additional dates for clean up this fall given the size of the garden. In the spring, we plan to continue reaching out to community partners, such as local nurseries and garden centers, for donations to help us further revive the garden. We also intend to honor Indigenous traditions by dedicating a portion of the garden in recognition of Indigenous practices. We will seek guidance from seedkeepers or knowledge carriers from Six Nations or Mississauga to incorporate traditional planting methods and practices.

Once the garden has been cleaned and restored, we will invite our local parish priests to bless the space, continuing our school’s tradition of caring for the earth.

We look forward to your support in promoting this initiative to students and encouraging their participation. Together, we can help make this project a success.

Blessings.

You can sign up to volunteer using this QR code as well....