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How a Garden is Helping Residents at Kyle Do Good

“There are cantaloupes there. We have peas. We have squash. There is watermelon. And I believe there are some potatoes.”

Broderick Jones, who’s incarcerated at the Kyle Correctional Center in Texas, is proud to be a part of the garden crew.

“It makes me feel like I’m becoming a positive part of our society—whereas in the past, I wasn’t a positive part of our society.”

It’s a lot of hard work, but for these residents —it’s worth every minute.

“It wouldn’t have dawned on me to reach out to someone because normally what went through my mind was how I could exploit someone in order to get whatever it was that I wanted in life. And those factors have changed.”

For Broderick, who’s spent the last ten years in prison for drug- and alcohol-related crimes, this opportunity to help others is important.

“This garden is all about donations to the food bank, to the local food bank. And I believe that everybody deserves to have as much nourishment as they possibly can. So my motivation being out here, besides this being my job, is that it’s going to help somebody who may be in need.”

Robert Deckhard who serves as a principal at the Kyle Correctional Center says the garden helps the residents develop new skills and abilities and provides a great community service.

“Almost everybody knows somebody who has gone hungry at some point; and these guys, probably especially do. So they know that the food is going out to the Hays County Food Bank. It’s going to those hungry neighbors that we’ve lived next to before. I think it makes them feel good that they can give back to the community, directly, every day.”