Grow your own for the food bank
The COVID-19 pandemic has made life difficult for everyone, especially society’s most vulnerable, and that’s why a local supporter of Penticton’s Salvation Army Food Bank is asking local residents to come forward to help grow food.
For the past seven years, the Medical Arts Health Research Group in has sponsored a community garden program, with most of the goods grown then donated to the Salvation Army Food Bank, explained founder Donna Benson.
The research group has donated a nice chunk of land on the property it owns at its Main Street office to build a community garden and has donated thousands of kilograms of vegetables to the food bank over the past seven years, said Benson.
“The Salvation Army has a large group of volunteers and they come here and grow the food,” she said.
Because of the strain the COVID-19 virus has put on the local economy with so many local businesses ordered shut down over the past two months, the group is asking local residents to step forward to grow at their homes.
The goal is to have local property owners agree to grow vegetables in the coming weeks. Those who step forward will keep half the food they grow, while the other half will be donated to the food bank.
“We will help them build the beds and then help with instructions and support,” said Benson.
“I’ve done it myself at home and it’s really quite inspiring to watch food grow and then know you’re helping others by donating the food you grow.”
For those who might live in an apartment building and don’t own a house or property, they can help out by offering a donation of lumber, screws, soil and seeds or even cash to purchase the items needed to build the garden beds, she said.
While the vast majority of local residents have suffered some level of negative impact from COVID-19, the community’s most vulnerable are struggling more than usual, said Benson.
“We need more land, we need more food,” said Benson.
“This COVID-19 has impacted the supply of food at the food bank. There’s less fresh food being donated since this started. We want to help facilitate more donations of fresh food.”
Benson said time is of the essence, as planting season has begun and “the sooner we start planting the vegetables, the sooner we can help people.”
The idea of community gardens being built to help the less fortunate dates back many decades when the Victory Garden initiative was formed following the World Wars to grow vegetables, fruit and herbs in public places to assist residents around the world.
Anyone interested in helping out the cause is asked to contact Sierra Hartmann, a researcher with MAHRG, at sierra@ medicalartsresearch.com. She has been in charge of the community garden for two years.
Benson can also be reached at 250-460-0984.