Empower with Gardening 2023
We invite you to participate in our #empowerwithgardening2023 movement!
VFJ Renovations plans to donate the profits to a non-profit organization that supports mental health wellness and education.
Pre-order your raised garden bed today in time for spring planting!
Order deadline is Friday, April 28, 2023
VFJ Renovations is once again planning to build cedar raised garden beds this spring for their Empower With Gardening movement. Garden beds are made in two styles - a 2' x 4' x 30" bed for $295, and a 2'x 6' bed for $275. Garden beds and planters are made with 5/4" western red cedar.
The planters and beds will be constructed during the spring, in time for the growing season. A 50% deposit is required for all planters and garden beds. All purchases incur a 3.3% service fee if paid by credit card. If stock becomes unavailable, deposits will be returned. Please read below about our initiative. All profits will once again be donated to a non-profit.
The Empower With Gardening initiative began during the pandemic as a way to encourage people to feel empowered. The gardening experience not only allows someone the opportunity to grow their own sustenance but to also participate in sustaining our world. That spring we were able to raise enough money to donate garden beds to 11 families, along with delivery, installation, soil, and plants (thank you Nancy Briggs and Dirty Knuckles!). In 2021 we donated our profits to the Franklin Food Pantry and donated two raised garden beds; one, to a home for adults with mental illness, and the other to New Beginnings Re-Entry Services, a home that provides the support, tools, and structure for incarcerated women to reenter society successfully. The profits made during 2023 went to the Franklin Public Schools and is ear-marked for education around mental health and mindfulness. VFJ Renovations is a father/daughter construction company based in Franklin and Hull, Massachusetts.
Stay well and eat healthy,
Vinny Fanuele & Jessi Fanuele
VFJ Renovations, Inc.
Installations
Scroll through the pictures below to see some of our installations
Here is what some people are saying about the #empowerwithgardening movement...
"Awesome Crew! Quality Work! - Linda
"What a wonderful cause! A mission close to our family." - Elizabeth
"Love it. Helped me to decide to go local and not [purchase] as commercial garden bed. Much prefer buying within the community and making it better. Thank you for doing this!" - Rachel
"Great initiative! Professionally built! - Jason
"Love the idea...!" - Steve
"First time buying a Garden Bed from a local company and excited to start our gardening journey!" - Tram
"Great response time after I submitted request. Jessi, you were wonderful to talk to and love what you are doing. Your support for others in this time is amazing!" - Vanessa
"Great way to involve the community!" - Teresa
How can I participate in the #empowerwithgardening movement?
Share your gardening tips with friends and neighbors
Build a raised garden bed on part of your lawn
Visit your neighborhood hardware or feed store to buy seeds and plants
Take a picture of your garden this spring and summer and post on social media with #empowerwithgardening
Dig up part of your lawn for a garden
Use pots to grow fruits and vegetables on your deck or patio
Install a rain barrel
Buy a raised garden and install it in your yard
Sponsor a raised garden bed for a person/family through donations
2020 Editorial
April 26, 2020
Get Back To Where We Were?
This spring we have been witness to people in leadership positions emphasizing the need for our economy and society to return to “normal” as soon as possible. But getting back to where we were is complicated, and begs the question: Was where we were, where we want to be?
When there are disruptions in our lives, we don’t believe it is prudent to rush back to the way things were. Instead, such disturbances afford us the opportunity to carefully reflect on the situation by asking: Where were we? What does the shakeup reveal? What of the past do we carry forward with us? How do we move forward in a way that allows us to cope and make our lives better?
As we reflect on the Covid-19 crisis this spring and all that we and others have to do to survive, we can’t help but think of our sustenance. Some of us feel vulnerable and confused by what roles we should play for our individual and families’ sustainability, and for what personal responsibilities we can own during this crisis.
This spring’s interruption of our “normal” existence is an opportunity to not only be socially conscious, but to empower ourselves. This is the year to GROW a GARDEN. It is the time to think about digging up part of that lawn. It is about helping out in the community gardens and installing planters or raised beds. NOW is the time for a movement towards gardening so that we can learn to enjoy the intrinsic value that lies in the preparation, sowing, cultivation, and reaping.
Gardening, in all its forms, will give you back more than the labor it takes. It provides opportunities to connect with the earth, and extends to you moments of teaching and learning. If you are patient you will see that gardening is about social responsibility, confidence, and empowerment. Gardening grants time for community and family cultivation and, on top of it all, gives you those delicious fruits and vegetables of which you can say with pride, “I grew that!”
‘Tis the season,
Vincent Fanuele & Jessi Fanuele