Second Baptist Church Gets a Rain Garden

Second Baptist Church in the Broad Rock neighborhood installed a large-scale rain and community garden on the church's property in March of 2016. First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe attended the ribbon-cutting.

The rain garden will capture and filter pollutants that run off from the church's paved parking lot and prevent them from entering the stormwater system and local streams, helping the city of Richmond and the state meets its Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals. Additionally, rainwater from the roof will be captured in a 10,000 gallon cistern and used to irrigate the community garden, providing fresh vegetables to the congregation and local community.

The project is part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's holistic restoration project in the Broad Rock neighborhood, which includes community education and other conservation activities, like buffer plantings and residential rain gardens. The project was funded through a partnership of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Community Foundation of Richmond and Central Virginia, RBC, and REI Outfitters.