As we see cooler days and rainy weather, the Neighborhood House Food Pantry Garden is wrapping up for the year. Though the garden suffered some setbacks this year – mainly in the form of 110+ degree days this summer – the yield was small but mighty. Around 1,000 pounds of fresh, nourishing produce was grown on-site at the Neighborhood House Garden, as well as off-site through the Scattered Gardens Program. The Scattered Gardens Program provided 1,500 free plant starts to local green thumbs so they could grow produce in their own gardens to then donate back to the Pantry.
The Neighborhood House Food Pantry prides itself on providing large amounts of fresh, healthy produce to food-insecure neighbors. While many pantries are only able to provide non-perishables in boxes and cans, our Food Pantry puts fresh foods first when having clients “shop” for themselves or when filling a food box for delivery. The Pantry relies on community members to stock the shelves and ensure fresh food is available.
Dan Simchuk, the volunteer garden manager, is grateful to the 20 participants who took advantage of the Scattered Gardens program in the spring. He’s also optimistic about growing the program in 2022.
“I have great confidence that the program will expand and produce even more next year,” Dan said.
