In 2005, DISC took a major role in the launch of a community garden on
Northwest 11th Street in the heart of Pearl City. The land for the garden was made
available by the Carswell family through a generous lease arrangement, and the
initial funding for setting up the garden were provided through the Community
Action Program of Palm Beach County.
The garden features twelve framed boxes with vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and
attracted gardeners young and old from all over Boca Raton. In addition to
providing food, some of which was made available to Boca Helping Hands (a local
hunger not-for-profit), the garden served as a vehicle for enriched community. The
planning documents for the project envisioned a place in which, “Youth and elders,
black and white, people of all faiths and walks of life can see a blossoming of
neighborliness.” Indeed, some of the gardeners acknowledged that they had never
been in Pearl City before the garden was established.
In 2011 it became necessary for the landowner to repurpose the land and end the
lease. However, the success of the Pearl City Community Garden inspired the
creation of a larger community garden in downtown Boca, which was established
and run by the Junior League of Boca Raton and served the needs of the gardening
community from 2010-2019. Another garden, on the campus of Florida Atlantic
University, also drew its inspiration from the Pearl City project.
DISC is currently involved in an effort to create a new community garden in Pearl
City, in memory of past DISC President Allen Willis.