Each Friday, the another jennifer blog shares stories of those who incorporate philanthropy into their everyday lives – personally and professionally – in a creative and unique way. If you have a story you’d like to share, please contact Jennifer.
Last week, I read a story in the Portland Press Herald that was perfect for this Philanthropy Friday series. The story, written by Avery Yale Kamila, was about how businesses in Maine were using employee-managed gardens to help stock local food pantries.
Not only are companies like Harvard Pilgrim and Idexx Laboratories donating fresh produce from these corporate gardens to food pantries all around Maine, they are also finding that involved employees are happier and working better as a team.
The neat thing is that you don’t need a big garden to yield a lot of fresh produce. The story noted that more than 500 pounds of fresh vegetables were harvested from just 10 raised organic garden beds last year at Idexx.
I started to think about all those neighbors, former co-workers and well meaning friends and family members who have pushed their extra cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchini on me in the past. How many people think about donating their extra garden veggies to the local soup kitchen or food pantry?
Nicole Holt, development assistant at Preble Street in Portland, tells me the need for food in Maine is dire. Preble Street operates 3 soup kitchens and serves 1,000 meals a day. They distribute emergency groceries to 150 families at its weekly food pantry. And the need in the community has grown dramatically: Maine now ranks second in the nation for very low food security (hunger).
A few stats to ponder: Currently Maine is only serving 16% of children eligible to receive a free meal in the summer. In 1977, there were 3 food pantries open in southern Maine. Today, there are 80 food pantries. 21% of food pantries report that their numbers have more than doubled, and 82% of food pantries have had to make some type of cutback, either giving less food or even turning people away. (Read more stats from Preble Street)
According to Nicole, “really fresh produce is so important to creating nutritious meals, and we need all the help we can get from everyone in the community to supply the needs of our hungry neighbors.”
Whether you are in Maine or not, there are people who are hungry in your community. They are your neighbors. Next time you have some extra veggies from your garden, bring them on over to your local food pantry.
Kinda makes you want to start cultivating that garden, doesn’t it?
Photo Source: RED AND GREEN TOMATOES| Dreamstime.com
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[…] Philanthropy Friday: Ending Hunger, One Garden at a Time […]
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[…] month, I decided to donate to Preble Street, an organization I recently blogged about in a Philanthropy Friday post. Preble Street’s mission is “To provide accessible barrier-free services to empower […]
Happy to stop by from SITS. Love this post. Totally after my heart here. I wrote a post Tuesday and let a homeless man tell his story of getting food. Broke. My. Heart. Happy Saturday!
http://www.positivelyalene.com/2012/06/05/homeless-mans-food-alene-snodgrass/
Awesome. I’m heading on over to read it. Thanks for stopping by!
What a great thing – philanthropy Friday. I would donate any vegetables I grow if only my thumb wasn’t so darn black…so I donate canned goods and other non-perishables to my local shelter instead.
Stopping by from SITS – I see you’re going to Blogher, so am I. Hope to run into you there!
Non-perishables work too!
Can’t wait for BlogHer ’12. So excited to meet the authors of the blogs I read in person!
Love it. I am a Mainer in exile (in Pittsburgh) and there was a gent in our neighborhood who planted tomatoes in his front yard, and on that little strip between the sidewalk and the road, with signs that said “free, please take.” It wasn’t the neediest neighborhood, but it was nearby.
I posted a link to your article on my Fb page.
xx!
Angela
How nice of your neighbor. Thanks for sharing the post!
Oh, and I found you on the USM alumni network on LinkedIn. Happy summer!
Cool. I’m not a USM alum, but Nicole (who was quoted in the post) is. Nice to hear from a Mainer!