It had been a cloudy day, but the sun peaked out from behind the clouds as we came out from a Memorial Service for one of the most incredible women I have ever known. I knew then that her work would go on.
Suzy Peacock had directed the Rainwater Charitable Foundation for seventeen years. The goal was always to help urban low-income children have a better life. In 2003, REAL School Gardens was founded to design, install, maintain and use school gardens as outdoor classrooms. Today the foundation supports 66 schools in North Texas. There are more than 40,000 children and 2300 educators going outdoors daily using nature to learn art, science, math and other subjects. Parents, grandparents and the community around these schools are all involved. Time after time, there are stories of a child who struggles in a regular classroom, only to come alive when outdoors.
Suzy had the vision and was the guiding light of the project. She was passionate, always striving for excellence, so evident in the hiring of those who will now carry out her message. No one who knew her could escape being touched by her warmth and wisdom.
She will be missed so much. If you believe, as she did, that school gardens can make a difference, contributions in her honor may be made to REAL School Gardens at http://www.realschoolgardens.org/en/index.html.
