We were reminded this week – why it is we do what we do. 

We grew our Grow Appalachia garden to nourish lives in our community, especially those served by programs located right here at the Episcopal Church of our Saviour. Our Head Start program, operated by Community Action Council, serves primarily Hispanic families who work seasonally in Central Kentucky agriculture. We grew our garden to be sure that these families have healthy and nutritious food to eat. What we have learned is that these folks work hard in agriculture all day, but they are not growing food for themselves, they don’t keep what they produce. Its back-breaking work, low-wage, with little time left in the day to spend with their families.

So, we set up our very first “veggie stand” on Monday under a tree outside the Head Start center. One by one mom’s and dad’s arrived to pick up their children at the conclusion of the day. You could see that the parents were dirty, tired, and ready to rest. But, you could see their faces light up when they read our sign: “Canasta de Vegetales! gratis para familias de Head Start” – “Veggie Stand! free for our Head Start families”. We had bags ready and the 9 families that cycled through were ready to shop (free/gratis). We had a wonderful time interacting with them and doing our best to explain that we had grown the food for them in the garden out back.

The best part was seeing the eyes of the children face to face and knowing that these tiny lives were really the recipients of the blessings we were able to pass along to them. The children were excited as they checked out the veggies. Next week we will set up a table that is child-height, so that the children can help their parents select.

We can’t wait for next Monday to get here!
By |July 17th, 2014|Uncategorized|3 Comments

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3 Comments

  1. Sue July 17, 2014 at 4:50 pm - Reply

    I’ve got the big lump in my throat now. Well done! And God Bless you all! Sue@Lmu

    • jonparker July 19, 2014 at 10:04 am - Reply

      Thanks everyone.

  2. MMPlumlee July 18, 2014 at 12:07 pm - Reply

    What a great idea!

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