Five years ago a dream emerged in our hearts — God’s dream — that we would work with God’s Holy Spirit to bring wholeness to our neighborhood. We knew part of that holy work would be to feed those who are hungry. The statistics that 57% of the school children in the local district fall below the poverty line is astonishing –and we wanted to join with others to do something about this. We know this is only the beginning of creating a Beloved Community – -that we must also address the systemic issues creating this poverty. But this is one small thing we can do to show people we care.
We started with 21 raised beds filled with an abundance of vegetable plants. We hired a Garden Coordinator and Garden Consultant — and off we went on this glorious adventure!
Today, we offer fresh organic produce from our garden beds, always explaining to our neighbors that this is THEIR garden. We started a seed saving program last year. We offer a refrigerator in our summer kitchen which has food placed in it by our community (our parish and neighborhood) which is available 24/7.
We offer events for families, children, and every week offer a free hot breakfast to our neighbors, with plenty of smiles, warm and meaningful conversations, and prayer (if asked). In addition to feeding hungry bellies, we want to feed hungry souls as well.
We have been blessed by cooperation and financial support by our diocese, the Episcopal Diocese of the Susquehanna, by local churches who have financially supported us, engaged in our ministry, and offered us available parking during the food distribution hours, our ecumenical clergy group who planned a Thanksgiving worship service in the garden, grants by our diocesan Shaped by Faith Program, local donors, the Partnership for Better Health, and many donations by parishioners. We feel supported by the love in the community which supports all our efforts to help others build sustainable lives so they can move from survival to thriving.
If you would like to assist in any way, please contact Mother Barbara or Susan Tyler.
See some of our favorite photos below —
