South Beloit Youth Garden Program
Members of South Beloit's Boys & Girls Club will grow their own garden this summer.
Nature At The Confluence is approaching its eighth summer of offering educational community programs in South Beloit. Every year, members of the Stateline Boys & Girls Club have enjoyed field trips to explore the outdoors at The Confluence. This summer, the two organizations are partnering to provide youth members with the opportunity to grow their own vegetable and herb garden using raised beds at the Bruce Nichols Campus of the Stateline Boys & Girls Club at 1161 Dorr Road in South Beloit, IL 61080.
The summer garden series is open only to youth members of the Bruce Nichols Boys & Girls Club. But Nature At The Confluence offers educational programs for all members of the community throughout the year at 306 Dickop Street in South Beloit. All event details can be found at https://natureattheconfluence.com/.
This South Beloit Youth Garden program is made possible with funding from The Stateline Community Foundation’s Community Impact Grant Program. Funds will be used to purchase garden seeds and equipment, as well as supplies for each youth member to have a journal where they will creatively document what they learn about botany, phenology, and recipes that utilize garden plants. The Community Impact Grant allows youth members to participate in the program without an additional fee. Staff at the Bruce Nichols Club will coordinate the registration for this limited-space program and Nature At The Confluence will provide the program facilitation.
We are also excited to share that we received a grant from the City of Rockford Community Action Agency to support the Learning Garden at our site. The funds will be used to purchase seeds, starter plants, pollinator plants, hand tools, and new signage for the themed garden beds. Our Learning Garden is tended by our staff and our dedicated Wednesday Work Day volunteers. The garden beds and compost system demonstrate ways to grow food and are used frequently in our programs with groups of students, families, and adults. This year our summer kick-off event will be an educational celebration of compost, Compost At The Confluence on Saturday, May 31, 2025. The kick-off event is in partnership with Farmers Rising, Sustain Rockford, South Beloit Public Library, and the Beloit League of Women Voters.
