Girl Scout gardener from O’Fallon nurtures healthy eating for disabled adults

Girl Scout Mia Torres wanted to make a measurable impact on other people. So, when she created a sensory garden at a local group home for adults with developmental disabilities, Mia not only enriched lives but also gained the self-assurance in her own ability to make a difference.

“It broadened my horizons,” she said. “The most successful aspect of my project was getting people involved in healthy living,”

Mia, a senior at O’Fallon Township High School, succeeded at community wellness in several innovative ways: First at her aunt’s residential care place and secondly, with a mental health awareness workshop for local Girl Scouts.

Through this two-year project, she was honored with a Gold Award by the Girl Scout of Southern Illinois. The Gold Award is earned when a high school student works to address an issue she is passionate about in a way that produces meaningful and lasting change.

“I hope that my involvement in the residents’ lives will allow them to work toward better eating and healthier activities outdoors. And I hope by getting girls to understand how common mental illness is, it may allow them to be understanding as they grow through life,” she said.

Mia drew inspiration from her dad Jesse Torres, a certified Master Gardener through Lindenwood University. A master gardener is a trained volunteer in science and the art of gardening. They advise and education the public on gardening and horticulture.

Mia said gardening always has been an important part of her family’s life. Her stepmother, Lynn Torres, and her dad Jesse like to cook many dishes from what they grow.

“My stepmom is an excellent cook — I love her zucchini bread. It’s the best,” she said.

“I have a passion for gardening and I wanted to share those experiences with those that do not normally have access to a garden,” she said.

Her aunt Nancy lived in a group home, and Mia was concerned about some of her eating choices. She came up with this plan hoping to provide organic food for them to eat. There is nothing like tasting the difference between homegrown, she said.

“I wanted to make the house more engaged in their healthy eating,” she said. “My aunt enjoys gardening but didn’t have access to a handicapped accessible environment.”

Process started with Belleville meeting

She first met with the administrators at her aunt’s residential care center in Belleville to get approval.

After that, she shared several meals with fresh produce and herbs for the residents to sample, to get a feel for the kinds of foods they would want to grow.

“I wanted them to experience a lot of flavors. I brought them all kinds of food and herbs I believed they might like. Their favorites included tomatoes, spicy peppers, bell pepper, greens beans, and squash. The house caretakers favored cherry tomatoes and peppers as well,” she said.

Mia researched wheelchair accessible garden designs, and after selecting the strategy, she got to work. She collaborated with a family friend to build two large raised garden beds, 4 by 8 ft. long and 4 ft. tall.

She received donations from several local businesses — Lowe’s, Market Basket and Home Depot.

After installing and filling the gardens in the patio area of the group home, Mia worked with residents, her family and volunteers to start planning. Next, she assembled a volunteer team to regularly water and weed the garden throughout the summer of 2018 while she was staying with her mom in Iowa for 49 days.

“When I came back from my mom’s I jumped right into the fall planting season,” she said.

First season a success, onto the second season

Once the first harvest was over, she led the residents in painting birdhouses, which she hung so they could watch activity in their garden all year long.

That first year, she thinks she helped residents feel more connected to their garden and the foods they enjoyed. In all, the garden produced 20 different varieties of organic produce, 10 different flowers and five different herbs.

“They were really appreciative,” she said.

They really liked picking the cherry tomatoes, she said. They were unfamiliar with turnip greens, but she was able to show them what to do, and for lavender, she showed them how to put it in tea.

To prepare for the next season, she took a class on raised bed garden then started planning the next year’s activities, which followed the same planting, maintaining and harvesting schedule with volunteers and residents.

“I was confident in what we were growing. I stayed all summer and visited the house nonstop to keep up on the garden. I taught one of the residents to pick the plants’ fruits and pull weeds,” she said.

Wide range of plants, food prep & a party

Mia said the plants in this garden for the past two years included cucumbers, peas, onions, marigolds, jubilee tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, swiss chard, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, ancho peppers, turnip greens, onions, spinach, bell pepper, mix peppers, jalapenos, chives, beets, lavender, basil, mixed flowers, and many succulents for the inside of the house.

The house chose these plants for the last few years, and they would like to try more vining plants like squash in the future.

She helped show them different ways they could prepare the food.

“I have a big passion for being in the kitchen,” Mia said. “I like experimenting with things that you’ve grown in your garden.”

Then it was on to a workshop that was the final piece of her project and a party.

Mia leads workshop on mental health awareness

She led a workshop on mental health awareness to 60 area Girl Scouts that included learning sessions about the brain, collaborative skits about mental wellness, and sharing information about activities that can enhance mental wellness, such as gardening and healthy cooking. She even had a doctor come to help answer girls’ questions on mental health.

“I was excited but also kind of terrified about talking and teaching other Girl Scouts,” she said. “My education portion was me spreading awareness about my project and how it has affected me.”

This also qualified for the mental health badge, which each girl received.

“It took me weeks to plan and it was two classes that lasted three hours long where I talked about my battles with mental health, what my project is, what it means to me, for 30 minutes,” she said.

“I taught the girls many things about the brain and how it relates to mental health. We also did crafts like drawing a brain and neuron, making a brain and neuron out of playdough, making a beaded neuron, skits about mental health in everyday life, and drawing what mental health meant to them,” she said.

Mia has been a Girl Scout for 11 years and has lived in O’Fallon for all but one year of her life.

A social party was the finale, Mia said. She hosted a barbecue planned around the garden.

Mia made a one-pan lemon herb chicken and sausage, green bean casserole, pasta with red sauce, a salad, salsa with chips, and mini cupcakes.

“We had 18 people show up to eat and talk about the project. I left them with a book about how to plant certain foods they have and haven’t seen before, and put in recipes for all of the different vegetables,” she said.

She is grateful for all the help and support she received from her family, their church friends, and her Girl Scout troop and Gold Star leaders.

“They helped me a lot,” she said.

Plans for the future

Even though the project is over, she is still planning to keep the garden growing. She also plans to help with other Girl Scout projects.

Because of the current public health crisis, she can’t go to the group home right now and garden plans have been adjusted.

“I grew up with my Aunt Nancy, and I love working with her in the garden. I was there almost every day last summer. I hope I can get there soon,” she said.

Along with some other OTHS students, she has a trip planned to Australia at the end of May but is worried about cancellation because of the global pandemic. She said the trip has been planned for two years and is already paid for, but she and her four friends will have to wait-and-see.

In the meantime, she is keeping up with online classes while a state order is underway for Shelter-in-Place.

All in all, how did the project impact her?

“I became more confident in my problem-solving abilities even when faced with adversity or obstacles,” she said. “Because of the opportunities my Gold Award Girl Scout project has given me, I might want to make it a career out of teaching.”

Mia hopes to start college in the fall, either at Southwestern Illinois College or Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and major in education.

About the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois is a council serving 9,338 girls and engaging 3,587 adult volunteers while providing financial assistance to 2,722 members in 40 1/2 counties in Southern Illinois.

The Gold Award is earned by girls in grades ninth-12th who demonstrate extraordinary leadership in developing sustainable solutions to local, national, and global challenges. Since the highest award was established in 1916, Girl Scouts have answered the call to drive lasting, impactful change.

To join Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois today, adult volunteers and Girls K-12 are welcome. Call 800-345-6858 or email customercare@gsofsi.org.