this is a very good friend of mine, she also has a group she works with to help rescue dachounds, thank you so much ty for featuring her!!!
- Nov 21, 2011
Growing Gardens to Feed Families
11/21/2011
For a lot of folks, gardening is a leisure activity- it’s a great, peaceful way to get back to nature when you have the time. Until a few years ago, Holly Hirshberg gardened as a fun way to bond with her two kids. Then, at the beginning of the recession in 2008, Holly’s husband lost his job. With bills to pay and no income to speak of, the Hirshberg family cut corners by relying on Holly’s garden for food. Turns out she had quite the green thumb – she fed them broccoli, okra, squash and tomatoes, and was pleased to see that she could easily give her family healthy food without splurging at the supermarket.
The Hirshbergs weren’t the only ones facing tough times in their community- food banks were struggling to meet demands and there were reports of families choosing between gas for their car or food in their bellies. With her new appreciation for the power of gardening, Holly set out to help. She founded The Dinner Garden, a non-profit that gives struggling families free seeds to help them stretch their food budgets and put dinner on the table.
Despite their small roots (get it?), today The Dinner Garden is present in every state and has given seeds to over 65,000 families and community gardens. They’ve also partnered with food banks, charities, and other non-profits nationwide. Holly was even the subject of a TED talk in San Antonio, which you can check out below:
They also have a really awesome “Five Dollars Feeds A Family,” donation program. Apparently, a five-dollar donation can provide enough produce to feed a family of seven for a whole year, which is some serious bang for your buck.
If you want to feed a family for a year you can throw in your five bucks here. And if don’t have a dollar to spare, you can still give back by donating your time – for more information, check out the Dinner Garden website.
Do you know an everyday hero? Tell me their story below and they could be featured on the site.
Related Stories:
Gridiron Heroes: Paraylyzed Players Find Support
When Life Gives You Lemons…
Keep It Going Challenge
Photo Source: Red White & Grew
- Recent discussion
- 11 Responses
- __Login
- View all__
My response never appears when I insert the emoticon at the begin. I think this is fabulous, pretty fantastic, only 5 dollars? I did contribute to help some families, and thanks for sharing this blessed link, it´s inspirational.
- Nov 21, 2011
I believe alot of families have had to go back to basic's. I have a veggie garden and have just planted my summer stuff. My mum and brother have one too. Its very common over here. My brother even has chickens now too. Him and his mates are always sharing. I think Holly is an amazing young lady. :)
- Nov 21, 2011
I just love community Gardens ,Mary Beth and Yvonne are right not only does it feel a need in the community but it gets the neighbors together.
- Nov 22, 2011
Thanks for recognizing the hard work of The Dinner Garden... free veggie seed to 184 community gardens AND 78,000 families to date. They have a facebook page if anyone wants to stop by.
- Nov 22, 2011
There is wonderful resource you may be interested in! Gardeners growing food for neighbors in need can visit www.AmpleHarvest.org, a national non-profit campaign that connects backyard and community gardeners with food pantries eager to receive excess produce to share with the hungry people they serve.
Visit the Find a Local Food Pantry link under the For Gardeners tab on the site and enter your zip code to find a pantry to bring your donation of fresh produce. Please urge food pantries in your community to register if they haven't already so this healthy wholesome food can reach those who need it most.
You can find AmpleHarvest.org on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/#!/AmpleHarvest.org) and twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/AmpleHarvest) as well. Please help spread the word about this wonderful organization. There is no other resource like it and it's absolutely free for both gardeners and food pantries.
Thanks, Ty, for sharing info on The Dinner Garden. They do amazing things and in addition to helping hungry people who contact us find food pantries that can assist them, we always let them know that The Dinner Garden is a resource available to them as well.
- Nov 22, 2011This is a great idea! I'm a in the same boat, in fact check out the website I made that covers growing your own food, preserving it, making your own cleaning products and easy family recipes. http://GrowitSaveitUseit.com Food freedom is a basic need that we all have.
Grow your food, save the seeds and grow it again next year.
- Dec 15, 2011-
-
-
-
-
buy books here -
-