Donna Rodrigue first heard about Green Light New Orleans through her sister, who saw us in the newspaper. Since March of 2015, Donna has been working with Green Light and has taken several actions to live more sustainably!

Donna first had volunteers exchange her light bulbs for energy efficient ones in March. Next, she applied for the Backyard Vegetable Garden program, and attended Green Light’s “Intro to Organic Gardening” workshop in October. A couple of local volunteers helped Donna build her vegetable garden later that month.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Donna has loved gardening since she was a little girl, and was influenced by her aunt’s work with botanical plants. Although she loves gardening, she was unfortunately slowed down by breast cancer for a few years. Donna is now a proud breast cancer survivor and has jumped back into gardening. She advises future Green Light gardeners to stay “open-minded” and to really pay attention at the garden class before starting. Growing a garden is fun, but also a commitment!

Donna loved Green Light’s mission, so she joined the Green Light family as a Sustainable Member. Through the membership, she received a free rain barrel. In late October, Becka, our volunteer coordinator and Megan, our garden program coordinator, helped her install the rain barrel. Both Donna and Green Light staff especially enjoyed this process because they had time to get to know one another. Also, Donna was particularly proud of the “woman power” that it took to install the rain barrel. She will continue to water her garden with the rainwater collected in the barrel and is excited for a fresh, homegrown salad (with arugula and radishes) to start making a regular appearance on her kitchen table!

Donna loves Green Light’s ability to “make the world a better place” in a seemingly simple way – and hopes that other New Orleanians will join her as a member of the Green Light Family. We are so grateful to have Donna as a part of ours!