The City of Lynnwood won a national award for the 2013 Seniors & Seniors in Service Project: An Intergenerational Garden.

The National Council on Aging granted the 2014 National Institute of Senior Centers’ Program of Excellence Award in Leadership, Civic Engagement, and Community Development to the Lynnwood Senior Center.

Teen volunteers worked with Senior Center volunteers and City Building Services staff to build a community garden. Participants, ages 4 to 90, constructed thirty raised garden beds intended to offer opportunities for intergenerational pairs of gardeners to grow food together.

Twenty-five garden boxes built four feet square and three feet tall were placed in a large rectangle, with five one-foot high raised beds in the middle. The waist-high outer boxes allow access for people with knee problems or personal scooters. The inner box assignments included both a preschool and a Boy Scout troop that grew vegetables for the food bank.

The purpose of this project, located adjacent to the Lynnwood Senior Center, was to increase wellness, foster intergenerational interaction, and provide access to fresh produce for older adults. It is the first City managed community garden.

Senior Center Supervisor Mary-Anne Grafton said “I saw an 80 year-old man teach a 16-year-old girl how to use a power tool, and knew this was the ‘why’ of the project. Youth have so much to learn from older adults, and older adults have so much to give. Last summer an abundance of beautiful organic food was grown by senior gardeners, in partnership with people of all ages.”

The garden is located at the Lynnwood Senior Center; 19000 44th Ave. N. in Lynnwood. Management of the Senior Center Garden is through the City of Lynnwood’s Healthy Communities Program. For more information about this project and upcoming gardens planned in the City, visit www.ci.lynnwood.wa.us/Healthy or contact Marielle Harrington, Healthy Communities Coordinator, at 425-670-5532.