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14 | City of Atlanta about planting and providing care to plants. Beyond the schools, community gardens have been also been increasingly established throughout the city. Thus far, more than 500 volunteers have worked to create and main- tain community gardens with Park Pride, a local nonprofit organization. Many of these gardens, located in neighborhoods without a grocery store, donate a portion of their produce to neighbors in need through local food pantries. Those efforts factor in two other impor- tant goals for the city: to expand green space so that all residents are within one-half mile walking distance to a park or greenspace; and another designed to ensure residents have ready access to locally grown food within ten miles of seventy-five percent of all Atlantans. Quarles says the City has longstand- ing partnerships with organizations such as Georgia Organics to not only capitalize on Atlanta’s yearlong growing season, but help residents understand the benefits of commu- nity gardening. The benefits involve more than the harvesting of produce. Quarles ex- plains how green spaces provide an effective means to more capably manage storm water, but also help minimize the impact of elevat-