Students build gardening tables for Gurnee memory care facility

Residents at Autumn Leaves of Gurnee will be able to spend the summer growing flowers, herbs and vegetables, thanks to the efforts of two Prairie Crossing Charter School students.

Eighth-graders Jennifer Stenzel and Christine Sullivan applied for a grant and worked on fundraisers so they could build four gardening tables to help residents at the memory care facility get back to gardening.

Stenzel and Sullivan worked with some of the residents in a courtyard area of the facility Wednesday to fill the wooden tables with dirt and plants.

"I'm happy to be able to help the people at the residence at this retirement home," Stenzel said as she helped resident Helen Zacharski prepare the soil for a tomato plant. "We built tables and we tried to make them accessible for the handicapped so that they could garden, too."

The idea began from a desire to start a garden for Stenzel's grandmother, Ilene Breslin, who has Alzheimer's disease. The two students took on the project for Autumn Leaves with a desire to help residents throughout the growing season until the harvest.