JUSTUS LEAGUE BRINGS COMMUNITY GARDEN TO TYLER
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by
Jill Taylor
Featured Photo courtesy of Denise Bardsley, a JustServe specialist.
TYLER—For one group, fighting for the underprivileged has grown into establishing the WCL Tyler Community Garden in West Tyler.
The JustUS League in Tyler recently established the garden located at 3106 W. Jackson, Tyler, Texas. This group fights for marginalized people of any race or background. The organization was started at the heels of the George Floyd movement and helps to bring together others to find common ground and create plans of action.
The group met and brainstormed an effort to help alleviate the pattern of poverty in the Tyler community.
They decided on a community garden, and the WCL – Tyler Community Garden was founded in 2020 thanks to a generous land donation from a group member.
The garden has been established and posts regular service opportunities on Facebook :
“A place where everyone can come for free to learn how to plant, grow, harvest and connect with others,”
their Facebook page states. “We learn physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.”
The founder of JustUs, Terry Bonner, has been passionate about inclusion his entire life.
“We wanted to devise a plan to help the community help themselves,” Bonner says. “We wanted to provide fresh fruit, vegetables, education, comradery, fellowship, through constant work with a garden.”
A native of East Texas, Bonner calls Tyler home after serving in the military and helping those below the
poverty line. He is a well-known DJ in town and passionate about helping the youth in the Tyler community. He worked for more than seven years in the Tyler Independent School District directly assigned to help the youth removed from school in the Discipline Alternative Education Program (DAEP).
“We wanted to educate youth and the community about nutrition,” Bonner says. “We got to thinking about what’s really killing people. As the conversation evolved it was far from guns, it went to food.”
Bonner’s parents were both murdered in Tyler, and he is a passionate father of three and gives his life to
meaningful connections.
“Instead of the protesting, we are concentrating on how we can truly help improvised people,” Bonner says.
JustUs has worked to foster relationships with organizations throughout the community. Thanks to donations from Tractor Supply Co., Texas Organic, Benitez Tree Service, and many others, the garden is well underway.
Another organization helping to establish the garden is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church has a number of volunteers working to till the garden and spread compost prior to planting. The Church is committed to self-reliance and bringing the community together.
Brother and Sister Hunt, full-time service missionaries for the church, have had more than a decade of gardening experience in Utah and bring their enthusiasm and knowledge to Tyler to help JustUs with the garden. “This is something wonderful and grand that will bless the lives of so many people who will become involved with the Tyler Community Garden,” Sister Hunt says.
Bonner is grateful for the help from so many volunteers and has a full day of service planned on Saturday,
September 10th for the 9-11 National Day of Service.
“They shocked me with their devotion to God,” Bonner said. “Especially the young ones. It’s so amazing to me that they could be doing anything with your lives right now and they’re choosing to serve God. Our goal is to help groups work together in the community, and we are excited for the future.”
