Vandals have caused thousands of dollars of damage to a garden project that was to deliver produce to those in need in the community.
The Better Man Harvest Project in the Nambour State College grounds was decimated last month by vandals who trashed garden beds, broke plants, slashed hot houses and stole equipment.
The garden is a project of Teens Take Control Inc, a not-for-profit initiative that supports teenagers at risk of disengaging from school.
A GoFundMe campaign has been organised to raise money to repair and replace some of the $50,000 in damaged materials and supplies, and to replant the garden.
TTC Inc founder Brenden Wilkins said hardworking students, led by staff member Danny Middleton, had spent the past three months working on the garden.
“We were going to have produce out to the community in the second week of the first term next year,” he said.
“The food was supposed to be going to the community centre.”
Mr Wilkins is determined that the project will come back stronger following the setback and has asked for donations of materials and equipment to rebuild the garden.
“I don’t make lemonade out of lemons – I make champagne,” he said.
“This is a step back but it can be turned into a step up.
“These people want to stop us from creating something but we’re going to show them we’re not going to crash and burn.”
Mr Wilkins founded Teens Take Control Inc after Meridan State College brought some students who were at risk of disengaging from school to his Maroochydore gym.
He wrote a program that uses fitness to build confidence and teach discipline. It covers the curriculum in alternative ways and keeps students enrolled in school.
He said the education system did not work for many students.
“It’s a very different system that needs to be developed for these kids if we want them to move from school to employment, not from school to the judicial system,” he said.
“These are not conservative kids. A conservative system is not going to work.”
Teens Take Control Inc has been a past recipient of a government grant, which expired in April, prompting a cut-back in the program, but Mr Wilkins hopes the new state government will come good with more funding in the new year.
He is on the look-out for another garden location with more security and a possible shed for other TTC Inc programs, which are crammed into his gym premises.
He has been eyeing off Sunshine Coast Council-owned properties but is yet to make headway.
“We need the community to get behind us for the council and the government to support us,” he said.
