Greenhouse coming to Boys & Girls Club of Elgin

A new greenhouse planned at the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin will allow kids to grow fruits and vegetables year-round as part of a program that teaches healthy nutrition and even the beginning steps of running a restaurant, officials said.

The greenhouse will be built on the club's community garden, which is on city-owned land off Ann Street, behind the club at 355 Dundee Avenue. Up to 25 children each year help plant, grow and harvest fruits and vegetables there, said Cathy Russell, chief executive officer for the Boys & Girls Club.

The city council approved without discussion Wednesday an agreement that allows the club to build the greenhouse and continue leasing the land for the next three years at $10. The club will have to submit plans for the greenhouse to the community development department, city senior planner Damir Latinovic said.

Russell said the club has put a lot of time and resources into the community garden and has made it part of its curriculum. Funding for the greenhouse comes from the Fideliter Club of Elgin, which regularly contributes to the youth club, she said.

"We have a farm-to-table program, where the kids learn how to grow vegetables and they harvest them, and learn how ... you implement them into different soups, and salsa and meals. They are also starting to learn the whole business aspect of running a restaurant by creating a menu that incorporated some of the foods from the garden."

Club member and garden volunteer Gloria Mora, 17, of Elgin, said she's excited to have a greenhouse. "I've never been in a greenhouse before," she said.

The kids who participate in the garden program, including her younger siblings ages 9 and 11, love it, Mora said. "They love to be outside," she said.

This year Fideliter Club also is funding a new freezer for the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin, said club president Kay Loeloff, also a board member for the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin. She declined to name the donation amount, saying greenhouse costs are being calculated.

"I think it's fantastic," Loeloff said of the greenhouse. "The children have really learned over the last couple of years about food and the importance of good nutrition ... We always try to supplement in some part a program that helps their kids stay healthy and get the nutrition they need."

Fideliter Club is Elgin's oldest women's organization, dating back more than 130 years, Loeloff said. Its mission is to feed children, and three years ago the club decided to focus its efforts on Boys & Girls Club of Elgin, Food for Greater Elgin, and Northern Illinois Food Bank, she said.