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CORVALLIS, Ore. - A second annual harvest party with music, cider pressing, garden tours and kids' activities will be held Sunday, Sept. 30, in Corvallis.

The free event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the WORMS Youth Garden at Westside Community Church, 4000 S.W. Western Blvd. The public is invited to tour this community garden, where there will be produce for sale, a raffle for prizes, and many activities for children including a scavenger hunt and face painting.

This event is an opportunity to tour a 10,000-square-foot youth garden that resulted out of an Oregon State University project.

The project, "Producing for the Future: A Collaboration between Low-Income Youth, Congregations, and Researchers,"  is funded by the National Institutes of Health and is designed to explore the health benefits of community-based garden programs. It brings together low-income youth ages 16-25, members of local faith-based communities, and university researchers to provide training, work experience, and improved health outcomes.

Youth, adult partners, and OSU researchers have worked together since early 2011 to design and plant a community garden and develop a microenterprise venture to market the produce grown. Using a process known as Community Based Participatory Research, youth, adult partners, and OSU researchers are collecting and analyzing data evaluating the project, and providing training and outreach to other communities interested in similar collaborations. Individuals in the project are both project designers and research participants.

Leslie Richards, assistant professor of human development and family sciences, is leading the research project. She said it is designed to teach young people entrepreneurship skills, as well as partner youth with adults to address issues of social injustice.