News Roundup: Community gardens, food banks & co-ops

Gardens feed neighborhoods and neighborly feelings

Episcopal Life Online – Just as gardens increase the diversity of flora and fauna, they can bring together a variety of people from the communities surrounding them, some of whom might not otherwise meet. Adult gardeners join with children and youth in the garden. St. Michael’s garden in Anderson, Calif., plans to welcome gardeners from an adjacent grade school next season. In Akron, Ohio, the summer education program at St. Paul’s Church was rooted in the parish garden and community hunger concerns. Youngsters fashioned tomato cages, chopped cabbage for soup at the nearby hunger center and visited an organic farm. “The children were delighted to work the garden,” said Sheila Svoboda, the church’s family minister, “and they felt a wonderful pride to see concretely the fruits of their labor.”

In two Lexington church gardens, a shared bounty is found

Lexington Minuteman – A true community garden movement has blossomed in Lexington, providing all involved with nourishment for both stomach and spirit. Earlier this year, two Lexington churches marked out organic, pesticide-free garden plots on their property. Neighbors old and young tended to them all summer, fighting blights and floods. Their labors paid off — squash, pumpkins, radishes and more burst forth. Every week, something was ready to harvest. And every week, that bounty went into the hands of Carolyn Wortman, director of the Lexington Interfaith Food Pantry.

Local organic food co-op sells ‘real food’ variety

Toledo Newspaper – “We’re owned by the community,” Youngs said. “We all become business partners when we purchase a share of the co-op.” The 130-member co-op is governed by a nine- to 11-member board. Any member is eligible to run for the board and vote for members. Lifetime memberships cost $200, payable in installments during that year. That membership cost is fully refundable.

Kids Cafe fills hungry stomachs at Brown YMCA

Selma Times-Journal – Yasmin McKinney knew there must be something she could do when she looked into the eyes of several children who were telling her how hungry they were. And, to her, these were not just ordinary children; they were her children, children she was responsible for as director of Community Development for the Brown YMCA. McKinney knows about hunger, its effects on children who are in their developing years. She addressed this as the former senior program director at a Louisville, Ky., YMCA through a program called Kid’s Café, a program that provided meals to local children.

Community food bank holds grand opening

Eastern Arizona Courier – Most people have felt pangs of hunger while dieting or if a meal was skipped due to busy schedules or for religious reasons. Some families in the Gila Valley, however, feel those pains every day because there isn’t any food in their cupboards or refrigerators. The Graham County Interfaith Care Alliance hopes to help alleviate that pain with the grand opening of the new food bank, Our Neighbor’s Pantry. Many churches and organizations donated time and money to make the group’s vision come true, according to Pastor Bob Holliday.”It’s not one church’s effort,” he said. “By coming together as a community, this becomes a community food bank.”

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