Bella Gutierrez reached out to the Temecula Home Depot for the Team Depot Grant explaining the importance of mental health for students. The Team Depot Grant exists to provide neighborhoods and communities with resources to create a healthier, more stable community. The grant covers efforts of building, rebuilding, painting, refurbishing, landscaping, and other initiatives. The grant awards up to $5,000 to groups of community volunteers working to better their community.
The process of project approval and creating the garden space spanned a couple of months. Volunteers came together to create raised flower boxes and lay bark mulch, and the wellness garden was completed on October 19, 2022.
The new wellness garden was built to provide Cottonwood students with coping strategies that allow them to both witness growth and be patient and caring with themselves and others around them. The wellness garden will be used as a space for regular mental health sessions.
Bella Gutierrez stated, “Our new garden has brought beauty to our school and a lot of smiles to our kids.”