Spotlight On Out of the Garden Project

 

Throughout the service year many members have asked what exactly I do at Out of the Garden Project; the job while easy to explain is very hard work.   In April of this year, our members participated in a service project at my current site, Out of the Garden Project.  While members were present at the warehouse they worked on packing mobile food pantry bags with foods from Second Harvest Food Bank which are distributed to families at our mobile food pantries as part of their food box.  Other members also assisted in loading up our cooler with recently donated produce from local stores.  This produce is also distributed to local needy families at our mobile food drops.  Members serving at Peacehaven Farm assisted their clients in re-packaging donated pizzas that are also passed out to these needy families. 

OOTGP started out as one family packing backpacks on their kitchen table for 6 families at their daughter’s school and has grown into the largest non-profit of its kind in the Piedmont Triad.   At this time, we package and distribute backpacks from donated foods to schools in Guilford County and also do the same in High Point with food donated by the United Way of High Point. We distribute 65-80lbs of food at mobile food pantries located in both Greensboro and High Point, we have developed a partnership with Greensboro Child Development to assist them in passing out foods to their needy families, and we are doing a summer feeding/enrichment program at  3910 Clifton Road that will allow children to be fed breakfast and lunch and participate in learning activities.    This year alone, the project is estimated to distribute more than a half-million pounds of food through the programs listed above.  With the Operation Backpack and the 18 per month free Mobile Food Pantries we serve more than 50 schools and 2,500 families monthly.  Each week during the school year we serve more than 15,000 meals in Guilford County. 

This site is some of the hardest work ever but it also the most rewarding.  It brings a smile to my face to see kids being so excited about the fresh foods that they are receiving.  This project has touched my heart and I truly believe in their mission as I know from experience we are all one pay check away from needing someone to help us. 

To learn more about Out of the Garden Project, please visit their website.

-Written by April, who serves at Out of the Garden Project. April will be returning to our program and OOTGP for a second year!