3 Hoboken Students Fight Flooding With Growing Kits

HOBOKEN, NJ — Three Hoboken High School students recently competed and won a grant for climate-related environmental preservation projects, and they want others to grow with them.

The City of Hoboken Youth Climate Action Fund recently announced the winning students who proposed projects to sustain the earth during climate change.

Among them was the group "H2Oboken," run by three Hoboken High School Seniors (Zoe Magaletta, Ian Crespi, and Linder), and advised by Hoboken High School Biology teacher Jean Lebegue.

They won the Youth Climate Action Fund grant from the city to give gardening kits to residents, which collect excess rainwater, helping to reduce flooding in the community. And of course, they allow residents to learn to garden.

"This student-led initiative is giving away FREE outdoor gardening kits (16.6" x 7" x 6.8") to Hoboken residents!" the school announced.

"These kits can be set up on your patio, stoop, roof, or deck and come with seeds and soil. They're designed to collect excess rainwater, helping to reduce flooding in our community."

After the city made an announcement at the end of the week, the students gave away all the kits, but said they're still collecting names for a wait list.

"Want to make a difference? Sign up now and be part of a greener, more resilient Hoboken," the school said.

Group member Zoe Magaletta, a Hoboken High School senior, said, "We got this idea together for the 2021 NJSTEM Communities Challenge project, and we presented it as a way of making Hoboken more resilient to storms (gardens collect water) and to generally increase local green space. Now, in 2025, we've been able to use a microgrant from the city of Hoboken and Bloomberg to purchase materials for nearly 250 kits."

Sign up for the wait list here: https://sites.google.com/view/h2oboken/apply-here

Questions? Email: h2oboken@gmail.com.