Recycling at it's best!

After the A.S.U. tour the teens came back to the DBG to make candles from the leftover votive candles that we use in our Luminaria bags. Judy Wells, a DBG employee took time to teach the teens the special techniques of candle making in preformed molds and in boxes filled with sand that they could make their own molds in....we had many shapes and sizes! This was a great project that the teens can't wait to do again. We are thrilled to be recycling the wax instead of throwing it into the landfill.

A.S.U. Arboretum Tour for the TEENs

This past Saturday Dec. 12th the TEENs toured the A.S.U. Campus and learned about the many different kinds of plants that are on the campus. They sampled herbs from the herb garden, got tricked into eating sour oranges and picked lemonquates. They toured the secret garden...which I can't really tell you about because...it's a secret. A highlight of the tour was seeing a 20 foot tall banana tree (really an herb not a true "tree") with bananas forming on the flower stalk. Again, another great day.

More Service Work from the TEENs!

Last Sunday the TEEN group volunteered five hours at the Sonoran Desert National Monument, near Goodyear, AZ picking up trash and removing existing roads. The land has been closed to the public for over a year now, so that it can be healed from overuse and returned to a pristine state. It was a beautiful morning as it had rained the night before. We had 15 teens attend and really made some good progress. We encourage anyone to visit the Monument once it re-opens to the public next year.

Chiles and Chocolates

Today, (last weekend!) the TEENs did a variety of jobs from making tootsie roll necklaces to painting our TEEN garden wagons. Sammy Saguaro also made a guest apperance, and even though he was armless he still made the kids and adults smile. There was plenty of chilie inspired treats to try and of course..... chocolate! Overall, it was a good day and we got alot accomplished.

Rafting the Salt! 11/7/09

This past Saturday 13 of our TEEN volunteers enjoyed a beautiful day floating down the Salt River. This was just a fun day trip to get together and enjoy some amazing Arizona scenery. The weather was great, the water was pretty warm, and the views were amazing.

Dia de los Muertos! Whoo!

Today was an awesome day for the TEENs! We had Matt, Hailey, Nick, Sydney, and a bunch of new TEENs that helped out today. The day involved lots and lots of crafts - And kids. We had some cultural music to rock out to and tons of people in masks and costumes. There were kids dressed up in costumes with their faces painted and the day went by smoothly. The altar looked beautiful (Look at the picture above! Taken by Syd. ) and it was a wonderful day all together. Next Saturday is the rafting trip and we hope to see everyone there!