More than Flowers Bloom at the Hackensack Community Rain Garden
(Hackensack, New Jersey; July 9, 2025) --The students and teachers at Hackensack High School, as well as residents in its neighborhood, celebrated the end of the 2025 school year with a special event. In June, the Hackensack Community Rain Garden got a new educational sign and public art, featuring painted birdhouses, insect houses, and a bird bath.
Leaders of the Hackensack Public Schools District and the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF), a non-profit headquartered in Hackensack, gathered to celebrate the new additions to the garden blooming with flowers and art at a formal dedication on June 10.
The event also featured speeches by Richard Del Vechio, the Science and CTE Supervisor for grades 5-12 at Hackensack Public Schools District, and Leonardo Vazquez, Executive Director of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation. Both led the effort to produce the rain garden, which was made possible by the NNJCF.
Plants and Flowers Provide Inspiration
In June 2024, a hearty group of volunteers installed the rain garden along Hackensack High School’s entrance at First Street. The NNJCF produced the rain garden, along with support provided from several sponsors and the school district. The garden features a number of native plants, flowers, shrubs and a Paw Paw tree. This garden serves several purposes: absorbing stormwater in an area prone to floods, helping students learn about the local environment and sustainability, and adding natural beauty to the area.
“The plants in the garden are salt-tolerant,” said Leonardo Vazquez, Executive Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation. “Anyone, who is looking for ideas about plants, flowers, or trees to plant in an urban setting, should come to the rain garden for inspiration.”
Public Art Adds Beauty
The public art created by Suzi Gerace of Dream Makers Art Studio & Gallery, along with support from the High School’s arts and woodshop teachers, adds even more beauty and interest to the colorful garden abloom with flowers and plants designed and installed by Dave Chalek of Sprout Farms & Gardens. The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s Associate Director, Danielle De Laurentis, managed the public art project and community engagement process to choose the artwork. The sign, commissioned by the school district and created and produced by Del Vechio, helps visitors learn about the importance of rain gardens with native plants for stormwater management and biodiversity.
The school district installed an irrigation system at the garden and added paving stones to help protect the garden’s plants and flowers, as well as the Paw Paw tree for years to come. The NNJCF sponsored the public art. Foundations and companies such as TD Charitable Foundation, Suburban Consulting Engineers and Garden Communities/The Jefferson provided support for the rain garden.
Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice
The rain garden is a keystone project of the NNJCF’s Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice initiative. The Foundation and more than 200 Hackensack residents, who are members of the Hackensack Environmental Justice Alliance, another bedrock project of the Green Infrastructure initiative, work together to address flooding in the city. They also address other environmental issues that put a heavier burden on low- and moderate-income communities.
“This was a community-driven effort,” Vazquez said of the rain garden, plants, flowers and its features. “Community members helped choose the type of garden they wanted at the school. The ideas for public art came from a brainstorming session with the Hackensack Art Club. Furthermore, the Hackensack Environmental Justice Alliance made the final choice for art.
“We wanted to put the rain garden in Hackensack High School -- the only public high school in Hackensack. The high school sits in the city’s center and in the heart of the community,” he explained. “We are also very grateful to the many organizations inspired to collaborate with us and support this project. For many years to come, we hope the garden’s plants, flowers, and trees inspire, educate, and provide enjoyment to Hackensack residents.”
What Can We Do Together?
With the motto 'What can we do together, that we can't do alone?", the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation helps communities in North Jersey become better places to live, work, and enjoy by bringing people together to address pressing issues, such as public health, environmental protection, civil society and education. The Foundation works to enhance quality of life in the eight northern counties of New Jersey – Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Warren and Union. The NNJCF has awarded over $1 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and scholarships to local residents, developed diverse alliances to tackle critical quality of life issues, connected people to valuable resources, and produced catalytic public art and environmental projects to benefit all residents.
To get involved in the NNJCF’s work, call 201-568-5608 or send an e-mail to nnjcf@nnjcf.org.
About Northern New Jersey Community Foundation
Founded in 1998, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups to improve community life. Through collaborative partnerships, regional problems are identified and resolved. Opportunities are discovered and explored by talking and learning from each other and sharing ideas, best practices, services and resources. The Foundation works to grow more creative and inspiring places, greener and healthier places, and more places of belonging and opportunity. For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, send an email to nnjcf@nnjcf.org, or call 201-568-5608.
Photo Caption: Community leaders gather to dedicate the Hackensack High School Community Rain Garden. Shown from left to right: Jim Montesano, Principal, Hackensack High School; Ann Carrera from TD Bank; Dave Chalek, owner/lead designer of Sprout Farms & Gardens; Richard Del Vechio, Science and CTE Supervisor for grades 5-12 at Hackensack Public Schools; and Leonardo Vazquez, Executive Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.
Photo Credit: Northern New Jersey Community Foundation
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