He developed Carver’s Secret Gardens, an urban-gardening program offered through 4-H after-school clubs that encourages students to cultivate 4-foot by 8-foot raised garden plots in their neighborhoods. Invoking the name of George Washington Carver, the black horticulturist whose pioneering work resulted in agricultural products and processes that have enhanced the quality of life for people all over the world, the title also cleverly references the R&B song, “The Secret Garden.” Volunteers use an extension curriculum to teach how plants can grow into food, benefit the environment, beautify urban neighborhoods, build up communities, and empower the members economically.

Like all 4-H programs, it uses practical skills and fun activities to convey life lessons. There are currently seven Secret Garden clubs now in place in extension’s Capital Region, and Sayles’ goal is to propagate the program in urban schools and neighborhoods statewide. One of the community-based organizations partnering with extension to provide the program with space, volunteer staffing, and funding are Penn’s Civilians, an independent educational organization cofounded by Sayles in 2003 to inspire leadership, scholarship, and service. Sayles calls on former Nittany Lion players such Paul Pozluzny, Blair Thomas, Greg Buttle, Kenny Jackson, and Dennis Onkotz to lend their celebrity to a good cause.

“Until the program catches on like it’s going to, Penn’s Civilians are providing all the materials—the boxes, soils, and such—so all the kids have to do is sign up and start,” Sayles says. “Our goal is to accumulate an acre of urban garden space in these plots across Pennsylvania. We’re proposing to start more than 1,300 new clubs through this program.”
Sayles and his staff may not have long to wait for the program to catch on with young people. When Michael Brown, a student at Harrisburg’s Sci Tech High School, heard about Carver’s Secret Gardens and the possibility of earning money through gardening, he says he was interested immediately.

“I like being a leader,” he says, “and I want to be a CEO one day, maybe even an entrepreneur. This could give me a feel of how it will be in the business world. I look at this as a really big opportunity, and I’m sure it’ll pay off in the end. I’ve done some spring gardening for community service: planting flowers, digging up gardens. If I can run this small thing, it can help me learn how to run my own business in the future—how to make profits and sell what the consumer wants.

“I’ve seen in the farmers’ market that people want homegrown produce that hasn’t been treated with hormones. If I can sell it at the right price, people will buy it. And I think the community will be interested in seeing that their urban youth are actually doing something productive and not wasting time on the streets.

”Many of the principles used to foster involvement in the Secret Gardens are present at countywide and statewide levels in the Pennsylvania Rural Leadership, or RULE, Program. Designed to develop community leaders who have the skills to tackle local issues and problems throughout the state, RULE is a two-year enhancement program known for its active volunteer base of caring alumni.

“This program changes lives,” says chief executive officer J. D. Dunbar. “RULE is targeted to change negative attitudes toward public service and issues. Each two-year class is a microcosm of a community with diversity in gender, occupation, geography, and culture. Those who have gone through other local programs say RULE is the ‘graduate school’ of leadership development for the state, and they consider local programs as feeders. It’s a two-year commitment, so people make a sizeable time investment. And they say they get a marked return on that investment.”

RULE’s 524 alumni serve as the organization’s resource for the advisory board and volunteer facilitator staff. Alumni offer to host events and provide guest lectures at study institutes. Graduates hold prominent positions, including seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and U.S. Congress, Dunbar explains. RULE encourages participants to address public issues from regional, statewide, national, and international perspectives as it prepares Pennsylvanians for enhanced public service. “We’re the only statewide forum where there are no titles, and caring about your community is the common denominator,” she says. “We’ve had people in the same class with GEDs and M.D.s, a janitor in the same class as an attorney. We’ve had a doctor come in, saying he wanted to sit next to a coal miner and learn. If we’re helping someone to be a better board member, we’re doing our job.”