Hackensack, NJ -- The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation celebrates Earth Month and announces a partnership with the Hackensack Public Schools district to address the problem of flooding and water pollution in Hackensack. The partners plan to install a demonstration rain garden at Hackensack High School on June 1. They invite the public to help design it.

Rain gardens can be an elegant, beautiful and valuable strategy to address flooding and pollution. They absorb and filter more rainwater than grass alone. These natural landscapes can be designed to bring more natural beauty to an area and do more to attract and support birds and butterflies. The Hackensack Community Rain Garden will be on the First Street side of the Hackensack High School campus located in a highly visible area accessible to the public.

In a resolution passed in February supporting the partnership, the Hackensack Public Schools district stated, the rain garden “is consistent with the goals of the District, creating not only an aesthetic and sustainable living piece of artwork for the enjoyment of the District and its visitors, but also to create a learning opportunity for the District’s students in the design and maintenance of the rain garden, which is aligned to the Science Curriculum.”

Community Rain Garden and Information Session

As part of the NNJCF’s Earth Day celebration, the public is invited to get involved and share their ideas about the design of the community rain garden at Hackensack High School and also learn how to make their own.

The installation of the Community Rain Garden is part of the community and environmental festival, Boost the Block Goes Green. The event will be produced by Greater Bergen Community Action in conjunction with the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.

"We want to build a beautiful rain garden in a place located in the center of the city and the heart of the community.”We hope this will inspire Hackensack residents to create rain gardens on their own properties," said Leonardo Vazquez, executive director of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation Executive Director.

Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice

The development and installation of the rain garden and the information session are a part of the NNJCF's Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice project. The project seeks to reduce flooding and improve environmental conditions for residents in central Hackensack and other parts of the city affected by flooding. More information about this project may be found at http://tinyurl.com/GreenInfrastructureJustice.

Donations Appreciated

The NNJCF seeks the public’s support to create and install the rain garden. To date, supporters for the rain garden include Suburban Consulting Engineers, a Champion sponsor.

Donations of any size may be made online at http://tinyurl.com/SupportGreenInfrastructure. Contributions may also be sent by check made out to 'The Northern N.J. Community Foundation', with ‘Hackensack Schools Rain Garden’ entered in the memo line. Send checks to the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, 1 University Plaza, Suite 128, Hackensack, New Jersey 07601. For further information about the NNJCF, call 201-568-5608 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Date: Thursday, April 25.

Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Location: via Zoom.

Participants need to register in advance of the session online at https://tinyurl.com/533v6eu2. Upon registering, the link needed to attend the session will be provided in a ticket or sent in a confirmation email.

For more info https://www.nnjcf.org/event/hackensack-community-rain-garden-information-and-design-session/.