From Garden to Food Pantry, Students Donate Harvest

VILLAS – Families who use St. Barnabas Cares Food Pantry on Tuesday nights will enjoy farm-fresh vegetables, thanks to a group of students from Lower Cape May Regional (LCMR) schools. The students are participating in a service project this summer. They planted, cared for and are harvesting summer vegetables.
“We started the plants from seed,” said Tami Kern, one of the teachers sponsoring the project. “Our plan is to pick the vegetables and deliver them every Tuesday to the food pantry, carrying this into the fall after school starts again.”
The students, who are in seventh to 12th grades, planted 12 tomato and pepper plants, seven eggplants, one zucchini, six cucumber and two string bean plants. Under the tutelage of school aide Dan DeWaters, they overcame some “troubles” before picking their first half dozen cucumbers Aug. 4.
“We had a rough, late start,” DeWaters said, “because when we planted the plants, it rained for three days in a row. The plants were water-logged and we had to put in new plants. Then it didn’t rain and we had problems with our well. We had to hand-water for a while.”
The fresh vegetables, however, are greatly appreciated by the food pantry, according to Leslie Flick, coordinator.
“Most of our families don’t have the space for a garden, and fresh vegetables are expensive. This means that our families will have a chance to enjoy some farm-fresh vegetables this summer,” Flick said.
The food panty is open one hour on Tuesday evenings. Families are eligible once a month.
The pantry is sponsored by St. Barnabas by the Bay Episcopal Church, 13 W. Bates Ave., Villas. Typically, families can select from non-perishable foods, Flick said.
“In the winter, we have anywhere from 25-40 families come in on those nights, but this summer, the numbers are down considerably. I take that as a good sign that people were able to get jobs this summer. We’re getting about 15 families a night now.”
When several fresh cucumbers were available Aug. 4, Flick said one woman didn’t know what they were, or what to do with them. “She was from a foreign country and did not know what they were. So I helped her to understand what the cuke was, and how you want to eat it. It was great to see this woman try it out.”
This is the first time students have undertaken a garden like this, according to Kern. Already they are looking at ways to make it better next year. “There is a greenhouse at the high school and we are going to use it to plant from seeds next year,” she explained. “Then we will transplant the plants to the garden and hopefully get everything in the ground sooner so we can start harvesting sooner.”
In addition to the vegetable garden, students planted flower containers to take home where they could enjoy zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos and marigolds with their families, she added. “They spent some time decorating their pots as well so they look nice at home.”
Flick said anyone wishing to donate fresh vegetables to the food pantry should contact her at 886-2625 or by email at lesbeth1@comcast.net. Clothing is also available free to families and donations are always welcome as well.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.