On December 16, 2015, Senator Tina Rose Muna Barnes visited Harry S. Truman Elementary and was thanked for the support she has shown for Breaking the Cycle’s school garden project and Taotao Mo’na Farm project. With a grant provided through the Guam Visitors’ Bureau, BTC was able to buy gardening supplies for Harry S. Truman Elementary which is in its third year of cultivation in the Duk Duk Gardens (the name of their garden) as well as develop its Taotao Mo’na Farms Project in Santa Rita. The amount of the grant was $46,250.

After this school year, Truman Elementary will be able to transition to self-sustainable operations, meaning they no longer require BTC technical assistance. Through this grant, students are now fully equipped to run Duk Duk Gardens on their own. Breaking the Cycle, in conjunction with Farm to Table Guam and the University of Guam Cooperative Extension Service, spent three years teaching children the basics of planting, pest management, composting, harvesting, and produce sales. According to BTC President Chelsa Muna-Brecht, “These funds supported Duk Duk Gardens in a way that allows it to become a permanent annual project for the students at Truman and now allows BTC to set our sights on developing a larger scale farm project for high school graduates in the south. This farm will create and support our sustainable community social justice project. We are grateful to TRMB for believing in our ambitious goal to empower and enrich our island youth.”

The Taotao Mo’na Farms project is planned to be a demonstration and profit generating farm located in the village of Santa Rita. Grant funds will be utilized to get the farm to an operating and profit generating stage through, the proceeds of which will support college tuition assistance and stipends for high school graduate interns who work on the farm. The goal of the farm is to become a community driven support mechanism for youth and young adults in the south. BTC plans to extend this model to the northern and central regions of the island.

For questions, please contact board member Chelsa Muna-Brecht at btcguam@ymail.com.