Ministerial Alliance funds LEC garden

By Kathy Thomson

Shackelford County Law Enforcement Center employee David Walls recently put in a garden at the LEC using funding contributed by the Albany Ministerial Alliance and items donated by Higginbotham Brothers.

“No county funds were used,” said Walls. “The general purpose I have in mind is to supplement and add nutritional value to the inmates’ meals; then we’ll share any extra bounty with first responders and area church pantries. I’m also hoping that inmate trustees will be able to work in the garden and take pride in it.”

The garden is just inside the drive-through gate, and according to Walls, any of the incarcerated workers would be pre-trial inmates.

“They haven’t been convicted of anything,” he said. “And since I’m the yard boss, I’m already working outside with trustees who are doing chores like mowing the grass.”

Items planted in the garden include zucchini, squash, onions, peppers, lettuce, spinach, jalapeños, okra, and tomatoes.

“All seeds and plants were purchased locally,” Walls said. “This is my first garden out there, and I’m hoping that we can increase the size of the garden as time goes on.”

Walls, who is retired from the Texas Department of Corrections, added that the state prison system grows a lot of its own food. 

A sign at the local LEC garden reads “Easter Garden, Through Him is hope and redemption.”