August 2, 2023

"You Reap What You Sow"  Do I hear an AMEN! Our neighbors are enjoying freshly picked  produce weekly.  In July  over 800 pounds of vegetables were harvested by hand.  Since the spring planting, we have distributed over 1,461 pounds of  fresh produce and recorded 630 volunteer hours.  Just as a personal note.... all our produce is organically grown. Thanks to grants that have funded drip lines etc.  and steady seasonal rains, our produce  does not have to be washed  before distribution. With full disclosure, the beets, need some cleaning attention. Included in the article is a picture of  the first "Mini-Love" watermelon. Join us this Thursday night at 6:30 in the garden to gather the melons. Several extra harvesting days have been needed as we are at peak harvesting time. Thank you to the "Early Bird Volunteers" who arrived at the crack of dawn to gather the tomatoes, peppers, ground cherries, beans, cucumbers, and squash.

As the neighbors arrived on Saturday morning, Chef Martha was preparing a recipe of Yellow Squash Fritters.  The fritters were yummy!  A  taste and recipe were offered to the neighbors and  items needed for fritters were available in the pantry .  Look for Chef Martha on WLOS on the  Carolina Kitchen segment where she prepared the Yellow Squash Fritters from the garden .   This past Saturday, we welcomed 128 families representing 429 individuals and eleven new families.  Each Saturday our neighbors  look forward to the time they spend  with their friends and  the volunteers.  The neighbor/volunteer  shopping model offers weekly connections.

City Bakery donated loaves of freshly baked bread. Other donated  items were Flavor-First tomatoes & peppers, Ingles-bread, Bimbos-snacks and bread, Panera- bread, Wal-Mart and Big Lots, misc items and food,  Project Dignity-feminine products, Humane Society- dog/cat food and MilkCo-milk.  Fletcher Methodist, Calvary Episcopal, Nativity Lutheran, Tabernacle of Praise Churches  and other anonymous donors contributed their time, food, and misc. items during the week.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, thank you to our volunteers and our area churches, civic groups, local merchants, and families for all you do to feed our community helping to reduce food insecurity. We thank you and appreciate  your food and monetary donations.