FELLSMERE — The orange aprons were out in force last weekend toward the end of the Fellsmere Farmers Market and Mercado at the Old Fellsmere School as Home Depot employees descended on the event to reach out to the city’s Hispanic women by talking up job opportunities.
Debbie Walker of the Sebastian Home Depot approached City Manager Jason Nunemaker about hosting a Do-It-Herself Small Garden Clinic during the farmers market and recruit some new employees.
“Our store celebrates diversity,” Walker said, explaining the clinic was meant to draw a crowd and help provide Home Depot a platform on which to hand out job flyers. “When you get two occasions in one event, all the better.”
Walker and her team brought out more than a dozen small herb and flowering plants and pots and soil to demonstrate the ease with which small gardens can be established.
“They’re just lots of fun,” Walker said.
That fun brought members of the Fellsmere Community Gardens over to the Home Depot tent at the end of the market last Saturday.
Yolanda Gomez, one of the organizers of the Community Gardens, said most of the products they buy to keep their gardens going come from Home Depot.
“We always look for ways to make the best, full use of what we buy,” she said.
While she’s not currently looking for a job – she has more than enough to keep busy – “You never say ‘no’,” Gomez said. “But, not now.”
Reyna Tolentino, too, is not looking for a job at this point, but isn’t willing to rule it out.
Her son, Johnathan Cortez, however, said he might consider a job with the home improvement store. He has worked as a cashier before – and currently serves as D.J. Cortez at many of Fellsmere’s community events.
While there weren’t many takers for Home Depot jobs, Walker said the event was still a success in her book.
“We’re happy with the interaction,” she said, noting that several of the Community Gardens members recognized the Home Depot employees because of their frequent shopping.
It’s those relationships that help build a bridge.
Some of those who stopped at the tent took home papers describing job openings and what Home Depot has to offer.
“We can now look forward to possible new associates who will enjoy sharing their experiences with their community,” Walker said.
Positions currently available at Home Depot include those in operations, such as cashiers, merchandising in the garden department, associates and greeters.
“We will provide all the training needed,” Walker said.
Gomez said she was a little disappointed with the community as a whole, explaining that she would have thought more people would have come out to hear about the job opportunities.
“We’ve got to get the word out,” she said, adding that she hears on a regular basis from people who say they need work.
Gomez said it’s possible that fewer people are in search of work right now because the packing houses are now open for the harvest season.
Walker said she’d like to come out to the Fellsmere Farmers Market and Mercado again, maybe only focusing on recruiting first and then later hosting another gardening clinic elsewhere in the community.
“This is just one more way to let people know what we do at the store,” she said.
Home Depot hosts monthly clinics at both the Sebastian and Vero Beach stores. The next Sebastian Home Depot clinic will be Nov. 21 – the third Thursday – from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and will focus on Pinterest-inspired holiday décor.
