Community Fund grantee organization VietLead’s intern, Tommy Ngeth, continues to preserve Southeast Asian culture through growing food.

Lan Dinh, VietLead’s farm and food sovereignty project director, states growing food is one of the ways they hold onto control in their lives by cooking their own cultural dishes and sharing it with one another.

And while VietLead has expressed interest in transforming empty lots into gardens, the city has reportedly not responded to their requests. Tommy and his fellow SumOurRoots students decided to take initiative. They are currently working on building an intergenerational garden behind Horace Furness High School. When Tommy brought up idea at a parents meeting, everyone’s faces lit up and they went straight to work mapping the landscape.

Read more about Vietlead and its Magic Garden at:

http://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/the-magic-garden/