Woman’s ‘jungle’ reclaimed as garden

When Kellie Stine of Boyne City, Michigan, needed volunteers to landscape a terminally ill woman’s property, there was no question in her mind about who to ask.

Stine’s quest began when her mother volunteered at a hospice facility. Her mother told her about a cancer patient, who formerly was an avid gardener. The patient was dismayed that weeds and decay overran the beds and plots in her garden.

“It was a jungle,” says Stine, whose father spent three hours working on the one-and-one-half-acre yard without even making a dent.

Stine turned immediately to Kiwanis, calling the International Office in Indianapolis, which put her in contact with Boyne City Kiwanian Bernadette Beyer.

Bernadette and her crew promptly went to work. Luckily, the club was just coming off a flower-sale fundraiser; so, it had plenty of extra plants.

When Stine’s mother told the patient about what the club had done, she was delighted and asked, “Who would want to do this for me?”

“This is your community,” Stine replied. “This is their way of saying they care about you.”