The nonprofit organization 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement awarded grants to chapters that will tackle issues like obesity and hunger.

Organized by the Southside High School chapter, the Harvesting Hope, Community Garden is meant to provide food to low-income families and promote a healthy lifestyle. The project will be funded through a $30,000 Sharing Inc. grant provided in early December.

“It’s understandable to have the Black Belt Community Foundation investing in your work, but to have someone in Boston saying that they saw our website, they see my passion for the community and they want to give us money for our students to bring about transformative change in the community is really just humbling and inspiring,” said Jerria Martin, with 21st Century.

The 21st Century Youth Leaders, which is designed to inspire young people and empower them, divided the grant evenly among its 10 chapters. The money will be used to allow each chapter to develop a project they feel would best serve their communities.

For Southside, that meant creating the garden along Highway 80 East, near the school, as soon as the weather becomes warmer.

The garden’s name represents its purpose to spread hope to those in the Dallas County area, Martin said.

“You’re not just planting tomato seeds, but you’re planting seeds of hope in those students participating in the process,” she said. “In return, they get to plant seeds of hope into the community.”

Martin said she would like the entire community to make an effort to contribute to the 21st Century’s community services projects, including the garden.

“You don’t sit there and criticize it,” she said. “You do something about it.”

For more information, email Martin at 21cyouthleaders@gmail.com, or visit the group’s Facebook page named 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement.