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Leafy bean vines snake through an arched trellis and
the plants below bear tomatoes on their way to maturity in the little patch
of green on the south side of Hope Presbyterian Church.
This special garden — also boasting cucumbers,
potatoes, and green peppers — fulfills the congregation’s most
recent call to serve. As a new partner in the Plant a Row for the Hungry
program, the church will harvest the fresh produce and pass it along to
those in need.
“As a church, sometimes we have money
problems,” congregation member Sue Hack says, “but we’re
fortunate to have a lot of land with a lot of grass and a lot of sun. It
was the perfect spot for a garden.”
Plant a Row for the Hungry — a national
hunger-relief project — was introduced in Sangamon and surrounding
counties by the University of Illinois Extension in 2000. Hack, a master
gardener with the Sangamon-Menard Unit, encouraged her congregation this
spring to sign on and take food-donation efforts a step further.
Hope’s members tilled and fenced a
15-by-25-foot garden and began planting in May. When the produce ripens, it
will join nonperishables and monetary donations at the Kumler Methodist
Church food pantry. “We have supported the Kumler food pantry for
years and years,” says the Rev. Debra Avery, the church’s
pastor, “so we took some of our land and put it to good use to feed
people who are hungry. It seemed like a natural thing for us to
do.”
Even though the project requires time and commitment,
Avery says, her congregation has shown a strong interest. So far the church
has harvested 39 pounds of cucumbers, and the congregants will soon move on
to picking green beans. “Our church is the place where anything can
happen,” she says. “If someone has an idea to benefit the
community, we usually find a way to make it happen.”
Since its inception in central Illinois, Plant a Row
for the Hungry has collected more than 192,455 pounds of fresh fruits and
vegetables for food banks and pantries in 21 counties. In addition to partnerships with home growers and now
Hope Presbyterian, Plant a Row for the Hungry has formed relationships with
other community organizations and businesses. Each week, commercial growers
at the Springfield Old Capitol Farmers’ Market donate their unsold
produce to the program, and employees at AIG Corp. provide mature fruits
and vegetables from previously supplied seeds and plants. Ann Pictor, co-chair of Plant a Row for the Hungry,
says the program is catching on in Springfield, but she feels that more can
be done if people understand the problem and its easy solution. “I ask myself, ‘What’s the face of
the hungry?’” Pictor says. “I think of the homeless, yes,
but the hungry predominantly are the elderly and kids. When you think that
there is a surplus and it’s rotting in people’s gardens —
that’s inexcusable.”
Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 19-25, 2007.
