Veterans garden gets $99,000 federal grant

By Eddie Fitzgerald

New Bern Veterans Employment Base Camp and Organic Garden, which broke ground in March 2014, has been awarded a $99,000 one-year federal grant that will help veterans prepare for employment.

Lovay Wallace-Singleton, executive director of the Veterans Employment Base Camp and Organic Garden, said the nonprofit is one of only three in the state to receive the grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the USDA’s $9.7 million in Dedicated Outreach and Technical Assistance to Diversify American Agriculture. It is also one of three veterans organizations nationwide to receive the funding, she said.

“We’re very excited about it,” Wallace-Singleton said.

The funds will be used to start a job readiness program in February to give more training opportunities to veterans interested in farming or other agriculture related trade, she said.

“The main premise of the Veterans Employment Base Camp and Organic Garden is to assist homeless and disable veterans,” Singleton said.

The veterans garden is partnering with Craven Community College and local veterans organizations to provide the five-month job readiness program to eligible homeless and disabled veterans, Singleton said.

Since its inception, the veterans garden, located beside the Stanley White Recreation Center, has relied on grant funding, donations and fund raisers, and prior to the USDA grant has received more than $55,000.

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