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Tito’s and Austin Parks Foundation Team Up To Improve Community Gardens

Changes to Heartwood Community Garden and North Austin YMCA Community Garden help provide fresh, healthy food

Two Austin community gardens just received some major TLC.

Love, Tito’s, the philanthropic arm of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and Austin Parks Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to maintaining and improving Austin’s parks and green spaces, have teamed up to overhaul South Austin’s Heartwood Community Garden and the North Austin YMCA Community Garden.

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The repairs and enhancements, which took place Wednesday, October 13th, are part of Love, Tito’s Block to Block program, an ongoing, nationwide project that aims to increase community access to fresh, healthy foods.

At the North Austin YMCA Community Garden, volunteers spent the day installing a new composting system, building plant beds and setting up an information kiosk with signage in multiple languages. Perennial herbs, beans and flowering vines were also planted along the garden’s fence line, along with new fruit trees.

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And over at the Heartwood Community Garden, teams rebuilt and replaced plant beds, adding soil and new pathways to the garden. A new composting system was also created.

Love, Tito’s Block to Block started in 2019 and has now expanded to 28 cities. The inspiration for the program stemmed from Tito’s own farm, located at the vodka distillery, which the company built to encourage healthy eating and provide fresh food for its employees.

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Austinites looking to support the city’s parks, trails and community gardens can sign up to become a volunteer or donate directly to Austin Parks Foundation.