This note was found at our Kentfield Garden. It was written on a scrap of paper with a pink highlighter from our children's area. "THANK YOU...WE WERE STARVING"....but they aren't anymore! We don't always know who they are or why ......... does it matter when they're hungry???
We were teaching our "Mason Jar Meals" at Torres Shelter teaching you can have fast, convenient food for pennies when shopping for dry ingredients and pre-planning. An 8 yr old boy who lived at the shelter had made his own Mason Jar of soup mix and suddenly hugged me and thanked me. He was so excited because "this was going to be his and mom's first meal together when they get a real house again".
I met this awesome woman who said charity was a scam, suspicious of “Free”. She asked “how are you free”? I said we work for free. "But supplies aren't free!” Everything we have/use was donated. She said I had to “pay” for supplies! The money is donated. First garden was donated and replanted its seeds…land is free….equipment donated. Before she left though, she left donation, signed email list.
Faith…..it comes in many forms. For us it came in the form of a bubbly little girl so full of life. Almost wasn’t the case. Very young when diagnosed and Faith’s family fought and nutrition became a major focus. She and Mom are some of our original volunteers and continue to make the world a better place. Faith has now been renamed a “Cancer Survivor” and no longer a “Cancer Patient".
I'll never forget our first food delivery to the homeless shelter. I’m not sure what I expected, but it was a very humbling experience! That evening I got a Facebook message from shelter residents. It said “There are tears of joy in our eyes. Thank you for caring enough to bring us fresh food, rather than what we usually see ready for the compost pile!” We were hooked! It mattered!
We met Albert while installing a garden at the Avenida Apartments. Here we were with all of our equipment, soil, plants and lessons and along comes Albert. He asked for his own “spot”. Albert had a piece of rolled up plastic netting and said it was full of seeds. Albert’s netting grew into the greatest bunch of veggies! And guess who Avenida’s #1 lead gardener is?
Kentfield Garden is in a residential neighborhood. All the activity brought curious neighbors out. They got re-acquainted with neighbors they hadn’t seen in years. They depend on our produce stand. Kentfield Garden has become a gathering place as neighbors relax around a fire pit in the evening or gather for a BBQ and music. Now they are having regular gatherings and fun…From the Ground Up style!
Ground Support USA made a Community Positive Road Trip with their tiny house style coffee shop across the United States to see who they found across our great country making big differences in their community. Guess who they found? Yep. They found our Kentfield Garden in Chico, California, out of this entire big US of A. Woohoooo! What a party we had with them!
Like we said....you just never know what you will find in our gardens. We have hosted weddings, music videos, and many, many community events for others. Kentfield Garden is a Community Place and "From the Ground Up" is a Community Friend.
SO FAR ANYWAY.....IS YOUR STORY NEXT?
WHAT CAN WE GROW FOR YOU????