In 2013 The Jenzabar Foundation presented a grant to the Flagler College Chapter of Enactus (formerly Students In Free Enterprise) where they have committed to improving the lives of others through service leadership projects. This is done through students employing their entrepreneurial skills to serve their community through social enterprises. Let’s see what project they start with their Jenzabar Foundation Grant:
The Flagler College Chapter of Enactus created their Room to Grow project as a learning tool using Aquaponics. Aquaponics is a high tech form of agriculture, which produces a large quantity of fish and plants in a relatively small space using no pesticides or chemicals and requiring minimal use of energy. Their project consisted of building and constructing an aquaponics system on their campus in a vacated, enclosed outdoor space. They created and designed a program with a Civil Engineer from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, planting and growing plants, including lettuce, basil, parsley, moringa, and an assortment of flowers, and raising tilapia and koi fish. The system produces over 200 pounds of fish and 2,000 heads of lettuce annually.
Last year, young men from the Saint Johns Juvenile Correctional Facility visited Flagler’s campus to use the farm and learn about science, math, and aquaponics. Currently, they continue to take care of the system daily and are in the works of finding it a permanent home, after their attempts at moving it to the correctional facility failed due to safety regulations. Ultimately, to sustain this project they are looking to implement it in the new children’s museum opening in Saint Augustine in 2015.
This project was created for Juvenile Inmates. Why create this program for Juvenile Inmates?
-The recidivism rate for participants in prison education programs is 46% lower than for non-participants.
-These programs are cost effective.
-For every $1 spent on prison education programs, $5 is saved on the cost of re-incarceration.
Jenzabar Grant Allocation:
-With the grant funds they were able to invest in purchasing the equipment and materials to build the system, as well as the educational materials needed.
Author and editor: Brooke Sparks, Flagler College Enactus President and Christina Meneghini, Jenzabar Foundation Intern
The Jenzabar Foundation 