Inaugural Earth Week in the Creek event 'a dream come true'

BATTLE CREEK — With children gathered around him, Devon Wilson cut open a squash and revealed the many seeds inside.

Wilson's message to the kids gathered at his urban farm in Washington Heights Sunday afternoon was simple: This food offers the key component necessary to produce even more of it.

Helping people feel a connection to their food was one of the key goals of the inaugural "Earth Week in the Creek" event held Sunday at Wilson's urban farm Sunlight Gardens, 245 N. Kendall St. The afternoon featured a soil workshop led by Wilson, bounce houses and crafts, music, not to mention several community organizations networking and sharing information with the public.

"Just look at the turnout we have," Wilson said with a grin. "I’m just thankful to be able to host at the farm and have an amazing team that helped put all of this together. It feels really good to see everybody gathered up for a good cause. We’ve got food, we’ve got games, we’re learning about starting seeds and caring for the Earth. It feels special."

The idea for the event was sparked by Wilson and co-organizers Colin Sherfield, youth and outreach pastor at Battle Creek Community Church, and Felicia Mares, community relations director for the nonprofit CityLinC. The goal? To bring people together, celebrate the Earth and inspire kids.

"If you think about it, a lot of people will never get the chance to meet each other because they live on different sides of town, so (putting events on) like this gives people a chance to meet each other, to interact and it raises awareness for some of these organizations," Mares explained.

"I just consider us citizens of the community who decided to come together and make a difference," she continued. "This is just a great testament of how you can make something out of nothing, because we had no money when we started, we just knew we wanted to do something."

With steady foot traffic throughout the afternoon, attendees had the opportunity to learn about a variety of community resources as well as tips on how to grow their own food. Mike's Team Active Bikes donated bicycles to be raffled off, Torti Taco served up free food and the festivities concluded with a slow roll bike ride along the Linear Park trail.

The strong contingent of children in attendance was no accident.

"We want (kids) to have that hunger for how can they foster the environment," Mares said. "They’re the next generation, they’re going to be the ones to take care of the Earth long after we’re gone."

Reflecting on Sunday's turnout, Sherfield couldn't help but smile. He also expressed immense gratitude for the variety of community partners that helped make Earth Week in the Creek possible, including Penetrator Events, the Battle Creek Small Business Development Office and the Leila Arboretum Society.

"It’s a dream come true," Sherfield said. "We’ve been planning this for years … We made it happen."

Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Inaugural Earth Week in the Creek event 'a dream come true'