Nifty nifty, Fit4Kids has FIFTY Learning Gardens!

On August 6, 2025, Fit4Kids proudly celebrated a major milestone: the construction of our 50th Learning Garden at Seven Pines Elementary in Eastern Henrico, just in time for the new school year.

Learning Gardens are more than just outdoor classrooms; they’re spaces where students get their hands in the soil, taste fresh produce, and see their lessons in science, math, and nutrition come to life. These gardens inspire curiosity, normalize healthy eating, and give children opportunities to move, explore, and learn in ways that stick with them beyond the classroom.

The build itself was a true community effort. Volunteers from Meta rolled up their sleeves and brought the garden to life in record time, finishing in about 45 minutes, beating their previous record of one hour. Principal Donice Davenport and Associate Principal Danny Jones joined us, along with Chief of School Leadership, Dr. Ingrid Grant, and School Board Member, Alicia Atkins, to make the ceremonial first “dig” with the Fit4Kids Golden Shovel, officially kicking off the garden build and marking this special moment.

This milestone is part of our larger vision: through our Growing Healthy Kids goal, we aim to build a Learning Garden in every Title I elementary school in the communities we serve. To date, we’ve reached every Title I elementary school in Richmond and Hopewell, and now we’re expanding into Henrico and Chesterfield. Each new garden brings us closer to ensuring every child has the opportunity to live a healthy, active life.

If you’d like to see the energy and teamwork behind this milestone, you can watch the garden build in action here.

And the momentum hasn’t stopped. Just a week later, with the help of a dedicated volunteer team from Richmond National, we built our 51st Learning Garden at Crestwood Elementary in Chesterfield. We’re officially #50andGrowing, and we can’t wait to see where the next gardens bloom.