Donated plants and trees at RRC are more than just pretty

BY: Rosanna Hempel

Felix Gaber, president of Euphorbia Plants & Flowers, trims a weeping fig tree at Red River College. “I like to make people happy,” he said. “People generally come to us if they have plants that aren’t looking so good or they need a little TLC, tender loving care.” Several weeping fig trees were donated to the Roblin Centre from Immanuel Pentecostal Church. / HEMPEL
Joshua David, 19, studies in the John & Bonnie Buhler Library at the Roblin Centre. The business information technology student and his classmate Carl Tugade, 19 (not pictured), said the plants and trees add more colour to the campus. / HEMPEL
Gagandeep Kaur, 19, sits next to Dracaena ‘Lemon Lime’ and Schefflera plants in the RRC atrium. “I feel relaxed sitting in nature,” she said. The business technology management student said she looks for greenery when she wants a break from studying. / HEMPEL
Tristin Hunt-Lasage, a business administration student, wraps up his Friday afternoon by enjoying a quiet moment beside plants in the Exchange District Campus. “It adds colour to the room and makes you happier,” said Hunt-Lasage. Indoor plants and trees boost air quality and diffuse sound waves that help maintain quiet study spaces on campus. / HEMPEL
Karina Kachur,biology instructor and technician at the University of Winnipeg, holds a nasturtium from the school’s May Plant Giveaway Project. “It’s just wonderful to see the students be able to take the knowledge that they’ve gained through the program and then be able to share that with the community,” she said. / HEMPEL
Kachur oversees volunteer students who plant around 2,000 herbs, vegetables, and other plants. They plant them through the winter before they’re distributed to the public in the university’s annual giveaway each May. / HEMPEL
Kachur examines a basil plant in one of their greenhouses. Kachur oversees volunteers helping with the Plant Giveaway Project from March through to May. “I think that has really great improvements to their overall mental health during that period of time. A lot of students say these things to me that they really enjoy just being able to come here and take a breather for five minutes,” she said/ HEMPEL