AURORA — The town of Aurora is sponsoring a community garden project that will promote healthy eating and give youth workforce development opportunities.

Teens Leading Change, a program under the nonprofit organization beGlobal, is a teen-led community project to address issues in the community, like lack of jobs for youth, as well as lack of healthy produce in the area, said Eve Hemby, director of beGlobal. The project was brought to the community through the Resourceful Communities Program, which facilitates healthy projects in rural communities.

Five local teens have been selected to participate in the seven-week entrepreneurship internship and will build and maintain a community garden, Hemby said. Two of the teens — Jaquaisha Perry and Michael Wierzbowski — attend Pamlico County High School and the other three — Daniel Moore, John McCormick and Jamaal Moore — attend Southside High School.

“Rural teenagers in our community don’t have opportunities for workforce development,” Hemby said. “There’s been a need for youth in rural areas to have access to jobs.”

Over the summer, the students will manage 12 raised-bed gardens, which are four feet by eight feet, and make a plan to give the community access to healthy produce, Hemby said.

The five teenagers will follow a curriculum called “Rural Entrepreneurs for Action Learning,” and at the end of the project, they will be able to create a business plan for sustaining the garden, Hemby said. The curriculum includes teaching them how to set goals, market their products, how to do a business plan, cash flow charts — all the things it would take to make a successful business. The students will be paid to work up to 15 hours per week during the summer, Hemby said.

The raised beds were built by Southside High School’s Future Farmers of America, Hemby said. The club was given $1,500 in scholarship money to attend their state FFA conference for constructing the beds.

Once the produce is ready to harvest, the students will decide where they want to set up roadside food stands and how they want to go about selling and managing the produce. This fall, they will have the option to continue working Saturdays through November, Hemby said.

The need for projects in the area promoting healthy choices and lifestyles is a result of the county’s statistics — 35.7 percent obesity, 12 percent adult diabetes and 17 percent preschool obesity rate — a real issue in the community. Last year, Beaufort County’s leading cause of death was heart disease, Hemby said. Residents of the community, most of whom do not have the means to travel elsewhere, are limited to convenience stores, gas stations and one grocery store located in Aurora.

“The Aurora Richlands Township is considered a food dessert,” Hemby said. “There is one store in the township that has healthy produce.”

June 28, the group presented the raised beds to the community at the garden’s kick-off ceremony and met with partners like PotashCorp-Aurora and Vidant Beaufort, both of which contributed grant money to the project. At the kick-off, the youth presented their hopes, goals and plans of approach, Hemby said. They also demonstrated how to make healthy smoothies using fruits and vegetables.

Throughout the project, the students will continue reaching out to the community by teaching about healthy eating, which will include a presentation to students at S.W. Snowden School in Aurora, Hemby said.