The firefighters and their families from the Hell's Kitchen Fire Houses

Purpose: The Clinton Community Garden was founded in 1978 and has continued to serve as a green sanctuary to the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in midtown Manhattan.
Reason site was selected: It serves as a public gathering place and the garden volunteers chose to hold a Hell's Kitchen Fire Heroes Benefit concert for the three fire houses in their neighborhood, raising funds along with the Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association and Gateway Greening, honoring their local heroes, and inviting them into their green oasis.
Events planned for site: On their website, Adam Honigman notes, "On Sept. 22, 2001 Clinton Community Garden along with US3 sponsored Hell's Kitchen Fire Heroes Benefit Concert where we raised $6,000 for the 38 lost firefighters' families from our Hell's Kitchen Fire Houses. We visited our 3 Fire Houses to give them each a check for $2,000, a key to the garden and a jar of Hell's Kitchen Honey from our Fall garden beehive harvest. This event was so meaningful to the firefighters and the community that we have decided to make it an annual Hell's Kitchen picnic to honor our local firefighters & policemen on the Fall Equinox....The Clinton Community Garden is committed to deepening our relationships with all three organizations, i.e. visits when all the parades stop 3 months, 6 months, a year from now, when it's even more important that the grieving know that there are folks who care. A sharing of a pie, garden honey and fresh grown garden produce with a visit are neighborly under ordinary circumstances - under present conditions, simple gestures like these are even more helpful. All of the firemen are being given garden keys with the understanding that our garden is now their backyard away from home (most live out of the Clinton Community Garden's immediate neighborhood.) Who better to welcome into our garden community?"