A local program is sowing the seeds of healthy eating among needy families.
The Plant A Row/Grow a Row program, now in its 14th season in New Westminster, encourages gardeners to plant extra produce that can be donated to the New Westminster Food Bank. The program allows local families in need to put healthy, fresh food on their tables.
After being collected at St. Thomas More, the food is taken to the New Westminster Food Bank and soon dispersed to appreciative local families.
Claude LeDoux, program co-ordinator, said residents have donated items including lettuce, kale, potatoes, blueberries and raspberries. Two children’s gardens at schools affiliated with St. Thomas More have been donating produce to the cause.
“It’s coming on now that the weather has warmed and people are starting to harvest,” he said. “The quality is amazing.”
The Sunday morning collections will take place until October. All fresh fruits and vegetables – fresh from the yard or the grocery store – are welcome.
“Any amount of produce is great,” LeDoux said. “When you put it all together, it is a lot.”
LeDoux, who is also the City of New Westminster’s horticulture manager, recently donated 30 pounds of lettuce from his own garden.
LeDoux and program volunteer Joan Miller recently delivered some produce to food bank coordinator Mona Forsyth after a recent collection day.
“She sorts it out with her staff and passes it out,” LeDoux said. “It’s not going to waste.”
Volunteers gladly accept donations of fruits and veggies on Sunday mornings from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at St. Thomas More Collegiate, 7450 12th Ave., just across the border in Burnaby.
