Locals raise money for youth homelessness

A pair of local residents are using reclaimed redwood and cedar garden boxes to raise money for homeless kids in San Diego County and engage the community.

Encinitas resident Jimmy Achey and Cody Price, from Carlsbad, have formed Calibrabox.com, where they showcase Achey’s unique garden and planter boxes, which are filled with a variety of succulents and flowers and sold at the Del Mar and Encinitas Farmers Markets.

Achey, a general contractor at the Calibra Building Group, collects scrap wood from local construction job sites and repurposes it.

On Sundays at Soul of Yoga, Achey works with children, teaching them about renewable and green practices as they participate putting the soil and plants into the boxes.

“The joy and wonder that the children have from making these wonderful garden boxes is amazing,” Achey said in a press release.

When the boxes are sold, 20 percent of the money goes toward the Standupforkids.org nonprofit, a children-focused charity that is helping homeless young people in San Diego County.

Price, a local radio host, met Achey when the former brought his two daughters to a box-building charity event at the Tierra Madre farm. They two then joined together to form Calibrabox.com.

“The children learned so much in the few hours we were there,” Price said. “When I met Jimmy, I knew I had to get more involved in the fight to help the homeless children of San Diego.”

To date the group has raised $1,500 to fight youth homelessness.