Plant a Row For the Hungry

[firelily99]

Gardenwriters.org has a community based program called Plant a Row For the Hungry. Since 1995 they have been encouraging gardeners to donate at least a row of the produce that they grow and donate to their local food agency. In the US over 50 million households "experience hunger or the risk of hunger daily". Please visit their website and print out and distribute the brochure and help to get others involved!

 

[Trellum]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this! I'm sure one of our active gardeners will find this interesting and might even share. I would do the same if I could, but right now no gardening for me. This is awesome for all those folks who harvest more than they can eat or sell... wonderful!

 

[sweetkymom]

Oh wow, I didn't know this existed. My husband and I donate a lot of our vegetables from our porch garden every year to the local homeless shelter.

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

I tried to donate a box of apples to our local food bank a few years ago and they wouldn't accept them because they weren't commercially grown. I guess companies don't get kudos for donating if individuals do the job. They were good apples too, organic and big and juicy but I had too many. The homeless people in my neighborhood seemed to like them when I gave them a bag full of apples.

 

[Tigress]

That's a beautiful idea! Thanks for telling us about it. I always like to do something to give back to the community and volunteering is one of my favorite things anyway so this sounds like a great thing to do

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

Thank you this is awesome! Similar to another poster I tried to donate on my own to a neighborhood organization for people trying to get back on their feet. The organization wasn't too interested in my donation so I started taking at least a basket of vegetables a week into my volunteer job, most of the people there live well below the poverty line and were grateful for fresh produce. I am definitely going to check out this program though. I love giving back.

 

[ACSAPA]

I tried to donate a box of apples to our local food bank a few years ago and they wouldn't accept them because they weren't commercially grown. I guess companies don't get kudos for donating if individuals do the job. They were good apples too, organic and big and juicy but I had too many. The homeless people in my neighborhood seemed to like them when I gave them a bag full of apples.

It's infuriating how much red tape gets in the way of helping others. I'm glad that you were able to just help your local homeless directly.

A lot of things about charity are stupid, like spending $250,000 to host a charity banquet with an open bar, and the event only raises $150,000.
Why not cut out the fancy parties and just directly help people? Grrr...

 

[Chuck]

I always grow way more than I can possibly use and give it to the local nursing home and senior citizens center. They seem to enjoy not eating out of a can