CSX and City Year come together for a giant service day at the Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful People's Gar

What:

Volunteers with CSX, City Year, and Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful will join forces to plant 50 large trees, construct planter beds, and build a greenhouse in the Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful People's Garden at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Who:

CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is one of the nation's leading transportation companies, connecting customers to ports, distribution centers and markets across the eastern United States. CSX created Beyond Our Rails as an extension of our organization — displaying our commitment to Safety, Community, the Environment and Wellness through grass-roots volunteerism and focused corporate giving -- actively engaging employees and non-profit organizations in programs and initiatives designed to make the world a better place. City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization, founded in 1988, that partners with public schools to help keep students in school and on track to graduate. In 23 communities across the United States and through two international affiliates, this innovative public-private partnership brings together teams of young AmeriCorps members who commit to a year of full-time service in schools. Corps members support students by focusing on attendance, behavior, and course performance through in-class tutoring, mentoring, and after school programs.

When:

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Where:

Florida State Fairgrounds

4800 Highway 301 (Orient Road Entrance)

Tampa, FL 33610

Why:

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful secured a one-acre parcel of land on the Florida State Fairgrounds to create an interactive People's Garden. This innovative project provides job-training, youth involvement, nutrition education, and affordable healthy foods through an exciting partnership with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, the Florida State Fairgrounds, the USDA and Lowe's. The Garden will display several different types of growing mechanisms including traditional garden beds, raised beds, hydroponic and aquaponic systems to illustrate the variety of ways food can be grown in West-Central Florida. In addition to the fruit and vegetable beds, the space will also incorporate a greenhouse, sensory gardens, Florida friendly gardens, butterfly gardens and an amphitheater with seating for presentations and classroom learning. The food raised in the gardens will be given to food banks and sold at very low prices at farms stands in low-income neighborhoods that have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The Garden will be utilized throughout the year by Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful staff for community workshops, presentations and volunteer training purposes and by the Florida State Fairgrounds for the more than 20,000 elementary students who go through their Agri-Science program. Additionally, The Garden will be promoted and highlighted to more than 2.5 million people that attend the Florida State Fair each February. Visitors to the Fairgrounds will be able to tour The Garden to view different ways to create green space that inspire gardens at home or in public spaces throughout Florida.

How:

CSX is proud to sponsor organizations like City Year, in their efforts to improve parks, schools, recreational centers and other public places in the many types of rural, suburban and urban communities that CSX connects and serves. In September, the railway was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for its achievements in environmental performance, including reaching ahead of schedule the company's voluntary goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent and its "Trees for Tracks" program to plant one tree for each of the 21,000 miles of CSX track.