3,352 Pounds of Produce to Charity

The numbers are in. The Community Garden’s Food Pantry Team had a very good year indeed in 2011.

Team members harvested 3,352 pounds of produce for charity, easily exceeding their goal of a “ton for hunger.” Based on an average of $5 a pound, the total value of last year’s harvest was $16,760.

Virtually all of the donations went to Malachi’s Storehouse at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church on North Peachtree Road, which is located across the street from Brook Run Park, site of the Community Garden.

In addition to the produce collected from the garden in 2011, produce was also harvested from the greenhouse in the park, the garden behind the Spruill Art Gallery that the Community Garden helped re-start, member’s private gardens and several fruit tree gleanings.

The Community Garden has set aside 20 percent of its space for charity since it opened on August 23, 2009.  The Ton for Hunger goal was established in 2010.

The goal for 2012 is, once again, a ton of fresh produce. All donations are destined for Malachi’s Storehouse which distributes food to Dunwoody families in need on Wednesday afternoons.

The Pantry team, which harvests every week of the year on Tuesday mornings, picked 12 pounds of produce last week. That’s an amazing amount considering that all of it came from the raised beds in the greenhouse.

Because the temperature during last Tuesday’s harvest was 22F, Food Pantry Team co-leaders Shawn Bard and Sally Malone decided it was too cold to raise the frost covers on the outdoor beds and harvest from them. So, with help from team members Ann DoVanGuy, Tracy Gilchrist and Laura Freeman-Hines, they tightened down row covers in the outdoor garden that had come loose in the wind and everyone headed to the greenhouse to harvest there.

“This is invigorating!” Gilchrist said as the shivering team headed from the hillside garden to their cars.

“This is misery!” Malone said.

It wasn’t a whole lot better in the greenhouse, where the temperature at bench level was 32F.

Still wearing heavy coats, stocking caps and mittens but at least shielded from the wind, they picked lettuces, arugula, kale and tatsoi from raised beds and delivered the leafy greens to Malachi’s.
"Dunwoody Community Garden and Team Food Pantry have been an unimaginable gift to the clients at Malachi's Storehouse,” said Kathy Malcolm Hall, co-director at Malachi’s.

Hall also said she was grateful to the Community Garden for helping Malachi’s create a community garden at St. Patrick’s. Called the Garden of Eatin’, clients who come to Malachi's to receive the Community Garden donations are offered an opportunity to harvest produce from the beds at the church.

“We are so grateful and enjoy the collaboration and joy from working together to ensure that folks who come to Malachi's Storehouse have nutritious options," added Hall.

The Community Garden significantly increased the square footage for beds designated for charitable donations last year, and Bard and Malone are looking for stewards for the new growing spaces. Anyone who is interested in joining Team Food Pantry should contact Bard and Malone at membership@dunwoodygarden.org.