Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 20, 2003
Contact:  Kirsten Kendrick, Governor’s Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Natasha Jones, City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, 206-226-6728

Gov. Gary Locke Leads Call to Serve on King Holiday, Helps Build Community Garden in Seattle

Gov. Gary Locke today observed the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday by helping construct the foundation for a community garden in southeast Seattle. In a letter to community groups and through television public service announcements, Locke urged Washington citizens to make today’s holiday “a day on, not a day off” by participating in service projects in their communities.

“We honor Dr. King’s life and work by carrying out his most important message - that ‘everyone can serve,’” Locke said. “You can serve in many ways - from volunteering at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter to giving blood. But the important thing is to make a difference in your community.”

Locke worked with a team of volunteers to build a garden terrace at NewHolly, a mixed-income housing development on Seattle’s Beacon Hill. The terrace will be the foundation of a community “P-Patch” garden.

The City of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods’ P-Patch Program, in conjunction with the not-for-profit Friends of P-Patch, provides community garden space for residents in 44 Seattle neighborhoods. More than 4,600 urban gardeners supply several tons of produce to Seattle food banks each year.

NewHolly is one of the first projects of its kind in the country. In addition to federal HOPE VI grants totaling nearly $50 million, partners are contributing additional public and private funds, bringing the projected total to approximately $275 million. The public-private partnerships created through the NewHolly redevelopment have established a model for the rest of the nation to follow.

Three Northwest companies - Starbucks Coffee Co., Frank Russell Company and Washington State Auto Dealer Services, Inc. - provided funding for television public service announcements, flyers distributed to businesses and schools statewide and announcements in several community newspapers.

» Return to this month's News Releases

» View News Release Archive