Nina Mbengue was awarded Volunteer of the Year in Arapahoe County in 2024 for her tireless efforts and contributions to the CMG Speaker’s Bureau, Youth Gardening projects and as a Team Leader for two Arapahoe County CMG demonstration gardens. Her commitment and enthusiasm are invaluable to the Arapahoe County CMG Program. Congratulations Nina!

There are so many parts of the CMG program that have been gratifying, from working with the staff and other master gardeners, to meeting people from all over Arapahoe County, and learning about their experiences to improve my gardening. It’s been absolutely amazing.

After I retired in 2020, I asked, “What’s next?” I wanted to do more gardening and join the Master Gardener program. I feel like a whole other life has opened up for me. My career involved handling child welfare state legislative policy for nearly 25 years, which included foster care, adoption and child maltreatment policies. After working on all those stressful situations, I used gardening to bring myself back into balance, as a way of calming down, relaxing and meditating.

Most recently, working with children at Jewell Elementary School in Aurora has been a highlight that was completely unexpected. I realized it would be great if young children in elementary school could be introduced to gardening because it is so healthy and great for well-being and mental health.

I first needed to learn how to garden, and then learn how to teach kids about gardening, so I volunteered as a Youth Speaker. It’s been such a joy working with these kids, teaching classes, and learning from Dawn Fradkin, the Horticulture Programs Coordinator at Arapahoe County. I’m just amazed that I’m doing this – providing the kids with something that starts way ahead of potentially getting involved in any type of system. Helping build up their self-esteem and their emotional and social well-being through gardening has been just amazing. I admire the way the teachers work with the kids in teams to plant, water and weed the school’s gardens. They’re learning things that will do them well in the future. They’re hearing positive messages that they will remember for the rest of their lives.