CSC Harvesting Good Things in Our Community

Linn Benton Food Share (LBFS) has partnered again this year with local nurseries for their Patio Project. The Patio Project is based on a simple concept - people growing fresh, healthy produce in their gardens to fight hunger in our community.

Carl Bass with his tomato plant

Local nurseries have donated more than 3,000 plants to Linn Benton Food Share to distribute so local gardeners can grow food to feed their neighbors in need.

Most of these gardeners are members of the numerous gleaning programs that work with Linn Benton Food Share. Gleaners are people with low incomes who participate in gathering donated foods for themselves and other low-income households.

The Patio Project will help LBFS increase the amount of healthy, locally grown produce available to those in need through their 68 local partner agencies that include emergency food pantries and shelters, soup kitchens, residential care homes, and gleaning groups.

LBFS Director Ryan McCambridge notes that Food Share has made it a priority to increase the amount of fresh, nutritious produce for emergency food boxes. It is expected that more than one million pounds of produce will be distributed this year.

“Linn Benton Food Share is thankful for the generous donations from local nurseries“ Ryan stated. “These plants will provide produce for people who are at risk of going hungry. We always feel good when we can increase the nutritional content of the food we distribute—and in this case, the people growing the plants have a new way to provide for their families.”

CSC’s Youth Garden has also been busy growing produce for both LBFS and the community, participating in the Corvallis Farmers’ Market. The CSC Youth Garden enrolls four to ten students looking to get their GED or diploma while learning food production and sales skills in a supportive environment.

Interested in gleaning? For more information on a group near you, please call Susan James 541-758-2645 or send her an e-mail at sjames@communityservices.us.

For more information on the CSC Youth Garden or CSC’s Youth Programs, contact Armand Schoppy at 541-578-2776 or contact him at aschoppy@communityservices.us.