Ample Harvest brings excess produce from backyard gardens to neighbors in need. The volunteers who participate in our local Ample Harvest program include community garden plot owners that donate from what they grow, and volunteers that plant, tend and harvest from our four dedicated 8X8 garden beds—two in our Apple Acres community gardens, and two at the Wallisch Homestead gardens.
Attendance at all food pantries in the region have gone up exponentially as inflation rises, jobs are downgraded or eliminated making it hard hard to make ends meet. Local pantries receive the harvest on their designated food pantry day, so everything participants receive is fresh. Pantry directors shared that they see the Ample Harvest donations making a huge difference by helping many families include fresh produce in their shopping cart.
In a March 2024 article run in NJ Spotlight News where NJ resident Sheila Long, who making $60,000/year at the age 63, said it was a shock when she needed to turn to the pantry, nad that the pantry fills a critical role for people who can’t make ends meet, and who may not ever have expected to depend on help with groceries.
“It was a hard pill because you feel like you are self-sufficient, that you can take care of yourself so it’s disappointing when you find out that you can’t take care of yourself,” Long said in the article. “You might be one paycheck away from it and you don’t even realize it until it happens.”
We are looking for volunteers for the 2024 season. Want to learn more? Email Cathy at cgb2673@optonline.net