Harvesting help
COMMUNITY GARDEN SEEKS VOLUNTEERS TO RAMP UP CAUSE TO FEED HOMELESS
Upon entering the Chesapeake employee gardens for the first time 2½ years ago, local grower Jenn Mabry looked around, made an initial assessment of how much work lay ahead, then sat down and cried.
“All that was here was sunflowers, dill and a lot of weeds,” Mabry said.
Fast forward to the present, and that same patch of prairie teetering on blight is now a bustling community garden boasting more than 60 raised beds that provide thousands of pounds of fresh produce for charity.
When Chesapeake Energy Corp. began belt-tightening measures several years ago, the lauded employee garden and its dedicated staff were among the first to go. That caught the attention of Frank McDonald, president of TLC Garden Centers.
“We approached them about taking it over,” McDonald said. “We told them we would supply the overhead and the labor in exchange for access. We just didn’t want them to tear it down.”
With good reason. The employee garden was the brainchild of the late Aubrey McClendon, who initially wanted to build an entire farm whose sole purpose was to supply the company’s dining services.
“We looked at it, but it was obvious right away that we would need a much bigger farm than he (Aubrey) had in mind,” said Jon Biegel, former director of restaurant operations for Chesapeake.
So the urban patch of prairie was fenced in and outfitted with more than 30 raised gardens, each box fortified by concrete. Employees claimed plots, named them and worked them for a few years before the economic downturn shifted the direction and leadership of the company.
With McClendon gone and layoffs underway, Chesapeake was amenable to McDonald’s offer. It was shortly thereafter that
Mabry had that cry among the sunflowers, dill and weeds.
Tender loving care
Gradually, the garden was resuscitated, thanks to TLC and Northwest Lawn Maintenance, which share duties and expenses.
Mabry, who left a career in the corporate world to attend Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City to study horticulture, sustainable crops and greenhouse production, calls her creation the TLC Donation Garden. That’s because they started donating crops to the BritVil Food Pantry last year.
As the garden has grown, increased yield allowed the donation garden to offer food to the Homeless Alliance.
This year, garden workers have delivered 2,100 pounds of food to their charities. That ton of fresh, organic produce was cultivated and harvested by a handful of professionals and volunteers who show up Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings to share in the labor.
Mabry, who also works at Prairie Earth Gardens, said with more volunteers, crops could double or triple.
“We are producing a lot of food with very few people right now,” Mabry said. “Volunteers would really make a difference to the community.”
Dan Straughan, executive director of the Homeless Alliance, agreed.
“This community is historically undernourished,” Straughan said. “They typically show immunodeficiencies, and most of the food we offer is canned or processed, so to get this kind of fresh, organic food in their diet is truly a gift.”
All one needs to get motivated is to enter the garden beneath a trellis entwined with apple and pear branches, popping with fresh fruit. The maze of blackberries, squash, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, eggplant and whatever the season calls for is not only a pillar of community assistance but a fountain of education.
Bonnie Jump has volunteered at the donation garden since Mabry started the project. A selfprofessed obsessive gardener, Jump said volunteering has improved her skills.
“I’m certainly more adventurous with what I grow in my home garden,” she said. “I’ve learned do much from Jenn. I just love it out here.”
The gardens are a great way for friends and families to volunteer. For those who might be intimidated by the thought of working at the Homeless Alliance’s WestTown day shelter, the donation garden offers a critical opportunity to support the homeless community.
“You don’t have the direct contact that you would serving in a food line, but the work is just as important as it’s helping us provide meals to people who need it,” said Kinsey Crocker, director of communications for the Homeless Alliance. “We sign up volunteers for the garden the same way that we do for our day shelter meal service.”
That’s online at www.Home lessAlliance.org, where you can click on “Get Involved” or go to www.VolunteerCentralOklahoma.org and search for the Homeless
Alliance.
Tables continue to turn
The Turning the Table on Hunger movement got another boost this week when 16 local chefs gathered at Packard’s New American Kitchen to serve a potluck picnic to a sold-out crowd. Folks eager to donate money to the Homeless Alliance crowded into the restaurant on its normal night off, out into the adjacent corridor where the food was served and up on the rooftop bar overlooking downtown.
Chef Chris McKenna said the event was such a success they might have to get a larger venue next time. Great job by all involved, including the neophyte “Edible OKC,” whose staff helped organize the fundraiser.
The money collected will help support the Homeless Alliance and its partners. Here’s hoping the 200-plus in attendance will also find a way to volunteer their time at the day shelter as many of the chefs in attendance, including McKenna, have over the past year and a half.
Ask any of them if their time and effort was well spent and you’ll get an unequivocal yes.
Meanwhile, the spike in temperatures places added pressure on the WestTown day shelter, 1724 NW 4 St.
Crocker reports record crowds seeking relief from the heat the past month.
“Our normal daily average is around 275. In just the last week of June alone, we consistently saw over 330 people, reaching as high as 357 people on June 29,” she said.
Crocker said folks assume winter confronts the shelter with its greatest challenges, but summer can be just as dangerous.
“As the temperatures continue to rise, people who are homeless are at risk for overexposure to the sun leading to heat stroke, dehydration, increased exposure to insects, and other health problems.”
The shelter provides a safe, cool, dry place where guests can find hydration and refuge from the heat, but the public’s help is needed to meet growing demand. Kinsey said the need for bottled water is critical. Donations can be dropped off at the campus lobby, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.