According to Mr. Muñoz, working in the Transforming Texas gardens teaches more than how to grow and sustain a garden. While not all children will participate in building the garden in its early stages, every student who spreads compost, plants seeds, waters the garden, or harvests ripe fruits and vegetables, will see the product of their individual and team work. He believes that the gardens teach students that with hard work and dedication you can grow your own personal success and proudly achieve your goals. He is confident that the gardens cultivate more than organic produce, but actually cultivate a sense of pride and encouragement in the students that will transfer to other areas of their lives.
Sixto Flores sees the role of Transforming Texas as one that inspires the community to take action. Self-sufficiency, caring for one another, and strong family values represent the collective beliefs of the almost entirely Hispanic community, said Mr. Flores. Those same values encourage people in Starr County to contribute to the community and “make something happen,” he said, “but they don’t know what or how.” According to this WOW coalition member, Transforming Texas community efforts guide those values and inspire community members to make the community better if not for them, for their children. “When [the community] sees us working, pulling grass, and starting gardens, they realize that they don’t need giant fields and fancy equipment, they can do this on their own,” he said. No single coalition or community member could do this alone, but through the Transforming Texas community effort things are getting done, making the community better every day.