A 9-year-old girl is the toast of Coral Springs after delivering a knockout of a speech to city commissioners – oratory that earned the budding activist widespread plaudits and prompted action by the city government.
Zuri Ford, a charismatic fourth-grader at Eagle Ridge Elementary, rose from her front-row seat at the commission’s Oct. 16 meeting and stepped to the City Hall podium, looking poised and prepared.
Though she stood shorter than the microphone, Zuri offered a master class in public speaking and advocacy, using reason, civility, and charm to win over an audience of politicos and residents.
“I’m here tonight because I need to talk to you about something that’s important to me and hopefully all of us, the Coral Springs Community Garden,” Zuri began, sounding more like a seasoned politico than a schoolkid. “Being here tonight is important to me because, first and foremost, I want to help those in need. I also want to be a role model by helping people face their fears, especially young kids, so they can start doing things they may be scared to do.
“Being here tonight may help other kids stand up and do whatever they can to help this world be a better place, while helping people get fresh fruits and vegetables.”
Zuri Ford {City of Coral Springs}
Armed with data and common-sense solutions, Zuri laid out a four-point plan to make gardening more accessible to local children.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t even know the city had a garden until I started on this path to help provide fruits and veggies for those in need,” she said. “I learned that the cost [to reserve a garden bed] is $120. That is too much for a kid to afford to have a part of the garden. Even $60 after the first year (the rate for Community Garden renters after their first year) is too much.”
“As I was learning about the Garden, I came up with a few ideas you might consider to lower the price so that kids like me – not just adults – will have enough money to afford a spot,” Zuri continued. “Kids who get their own bed would receive a starter kit with several different kinds of seeds with a little instruction that tells them how to plant [the crops]. Let’s say the kids need help; they will have instructions to help them so that they won’t need as much help while they’re planting.”
“Number two, allow me to be a Garden ambassador,” Zuri continued. “The reason I want to be an ambassador is because I want to help other kids who want to garden and have a section without having to pay a bunch of money they can’t afford. I could also help people learn more about the Garden.”
The third piece of Zuri’s plan: Getting the Community Garden to offer a larger “variety of seeds so people will have more options to choose from.”
She said a QR code existed to access a “seed library,” but “maybe there could be more fruits and veggies.”
Zuri’s fourth idea for the Garden: “Give away one or two beds to a kid as part of a contest.”
“The student would have to write an essay about the importance of taking care of the environment or another topic to show why they should be given a bed,” she said.
Wrapping up her four-minute speech, Zuri thanked the Garden’s members and volunteers, including former Mayor Roy Gold. Gold created the city-owned garden at 2915 Sportsplex Dr., which has operated in partnership with the Coral Springs Rotary Club for about 15 years.
“I told her she could be mayor,” said Gold, who met with Zuri and her mother, Kristie Ford, before her speech.
Zuri also visited the Garden and came away with some green goodies, like seeds and food.
Her speech got immediate action from the city: She and her mom have a meeting scheduled next week with Coral Springs Parks and Recreation Director Robert Hunter to discuss her ideas.
“I’ve got tell you, I can’t believe you’re nine years old,” Coral Springs Vice Mayor Shawn Cerra told Zuri after her speech. “You have done a phenomenal job this evening speaking. It’s very refreshing to see you come here with your concerns and offer up solutions.”
Zuri’s performance also won praise at Eagle Ridge, where her teacher showed a video of her speech in class as part of a lesson on government.
How did the students respond?
“They clapped really, really loud,” Zuri said Wednesday, adding that she is “proud” of her advocacy.
“Speaking with her, it’s as if you could be speaking with an adult,” said Kristie Ford, who lives with her husband Benjamin Ford, Zuri, and Zuri’s 14-year-old sister in Coral Springs. “An adult in a child’s body.”
“She actually wants to be a veterinarian,” Zuri’s mother said. “In the last few months, she’s taken an interest in the environment. She is environmentally conscious, so that’s how the gardening piece came into play.”
“She knows what she wants, and she’s ready to do what she needs to do with the help of whoever can help her.”
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