On Tuesday, July 18, Lezley McSpadden and her family and friends from the Michael O.D. Brown Foundation were out gardening in the middle of the day, despite the 100-degree heat. McSpadden’s Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons and Daughters Foundation — named for her son, who was killed in 2014, and dedicated to reforming police practices and improving community health — created this farm, on the campus of the Jennings School District’s Gore Community center.
The garden was already thriving, though it had only been planted in early June. The corn sprouted a few feet tall already. McSpadden listed the vegetables growing there, occasionally looking over to her mother Desuira Harris and aunt Barbara Berry, who helped her out if she forgot something: corn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, greens, carrots, herbs, green beans — the list went on and on.
This is a family effort. I’m glad to have the help of my mother, and my aunt, and everyone else.
Lezley McSpadden,
Mother of Michael O.D. Brown
Coverage from The St. Louis American