The Plant a Row- Grow a Row program is once again giving gardeners a chance to support local charities – and help put healthy food on their own tables as well.
This year’s Plant a Row - Grow a Row drive-thru event is giving folks a chance to get gardening giveaways, including veggie plants and seeds, potting soil, pots and planters, and more. Volunteers will be gratefully accepting monetary donations and donations of non-perishable food items at the drive-thru event, which will go to the charities supported by the program.
Claude LeDoux, founder of the local Plant a Row – Grow a Row program, said folks drive into the parking lot at St. Thomas More and check off their selections on a form listing the types of plants available, and volunteers do the rest.
“Someone runs grabbed everything and then they put it in your car,” he said. “You don't need to get out of the car.”
This year’s event is on Sunday, April 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot at St Thomas More Collegiate, 7450 12th Ave., just across the border in Burnaby.
Thanks to donations from the program’s “great friends” in the garden industry and on the Plant A Row – Grow a Row team, community members will have bounty of plants to choose from.
Arugula, beets, cabbage, celery, celeriac, lettuce, kale, various kinds of onions and lettuce, swiss chard, brussels sprouts and tomatoes are among the plants available at this year’s event. Peppers – including bell, banana, cayenne and jalapeno varieties – are also available.
“Everything we're giving you can go out now except the peppers,” LeDoux said. “The peppers should be potted up and then grown a little till the end of the month.”
Planters in a variety of sizes and colours are also being given out at the event. Bags of high-quality soil, specifically meant for vegetables, are available, at a recommended price of $5 a bag.
“High donors” may be lucky enough to receive a ceramic bird bath, a small greenhouse, or a wooden planter box.
The local Plant A Row – Grow a Row program has been operating for more than 25 years. Running from June until October, it encourages gardeners to plant a little extra in their garden and donate some of their produce to the program – which then disperses it to Ryan’s Rainbow Emergency Food Outreach in Burnaby and the Union Gospel Mission in New West.
“When they bring them in they're so proud. They come in and say: ‘this was one of the plants that I got from you,’” LeDoux said. “That's what this is all about – most for yourself and the extras for us.”
LeDoux said items donated to the Plant a Row – Grow a Row program are gratefully accepted by the Union Gospel Mission, which uses the produce in food cooked in its kitchen, and Ryan’s Rainbow, which distributes food to families in need.
“They're doing about 200, 250 boxes a week,” he said. “I remember when we first started it was maybe 100. The demand is huge.”
LeDoux said it’s been rewarding to see the way the program has been embraced by the community through the years.
“It’s huge community building,” he said. “It's amazing how many people keep coming back year after year for this, and we've been doing this more than 25 years. And the other part is they're bringing other friends. It's very nice.”
LeDoux encourages community members to drop by Sunday’s drive-through event and pick up some gardening goodies and support the local charities. He believes the program is a win-win as participants benefit from the relaxation and delicious food that comes from gardening and charities benefit the community’s support.
“We are looking forward to seeing everybody there. I'm looking forward to building more community and growing and that helping other people.”
From June 9 to Oct. 6, volunteers will be collecting fresh and non-perishable food donations (as well as cash donations) every Sunday morning from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. at the front entrance to STM Collegiate.
