CSR Spotlight: Engineers Without Borders Build
Our Logan Township, New Jersey office completed an Engineers Without Borders (EWB) build, including the construction of a greenhouse and two composting tumblers for the Furness High School in South Philadelphia. After contributing for two consecutive years, Roux’s CSR team has been a major contributor to the success of this project.
This project benefits the community surrounding the Furness High School community school garden and the members of VietLead. VietLead is a grassroots community organization in Philadelphia and South Jersey that is creating a vision and strategy for community self-determination, social justice, and cultural resilience. VietLead’s programs include intergenerational farming, youth organizing, health navigation and healing, civic engagement, and community defense. Founded in September 2015, VietLead offers the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian communities in Philadelphia and South Jersey direct services, education, advocacy, and organization in order to build unity towards social justice.
In addition to providing food and community, the Furness community garden educates students on the art and science of small-scale agriculture. So far, over 120 students have learned horticultural skills directly through the Furness community garden project. Helping to cultivate the garden promotes healthy living, student leadership, and community school participation in the populations served by VietLead.
Roux’s contributions have helped to expand the growing season through the addition of a greenhouse, provide additional water through a rain catchment system and solar powered pump, and increase soil production through two hand cranking composing tumblers. Future projects with EWB and Vietlead include solar powered irrigation systems, solar powered climate control for the newly built greenhouse, and solar powered battery storage for various garden tools.
