Giving from the heart
By Catherine Edman Daily Herald Staff Writer

It was a wellspring of potential salves.

"As a kid, I remember my mom was always first in line to offer to help when someone needed it," the Gurnee mother recalls. What she offered with open arms was food.

"We had a big plot in the back of our yard in Arlington Heights," Spangler said. "We had so much stuff that she had to do the canning. My brother, sister and I all helped. We grew grapes. My mom would make jam and she would give it away … to a lot of people," Spangler said.

She saw, firsthand, how something as simple as a fruit or vegetable gave hope to those in trouble, and eased hunger pangs in someone having problems finding food on their own.

The little garden behind her home won't produce enough to feed even her own family. It certainly won't make a huge dent in a food pantry.

But that isn't her goal.

She's using the little garden to grow lessons: the same lessons her mother taught her, by example, when she carried a basket full of vegetables to someone's house.

"I want my kids to be like that," she said. "I want them to help without expecting to get something back."

She's teaching that this year through Plant a Row for the Hungry, a national campaign that urges gardeners to plant a little extra in their gardens, or take any excess they grow, to area food banks.

For the third year, the Daily Herald will sponsor this worthy campaign locally. This year, however, we're raising the ante. We're encouraging gardeners to help donate 40,000 pounds of fresh produce to more than 40 social service agencies in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

We know readers can meet the goal. Last year, just the second in the local campaign, gardeners delivered more than 33,000 pounds of fresh zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, squash, corn, beans and peppers. We'll set up the drop-off spots, tell you the times, and give you weekly updates in the Sunday Home & Garden sections.

This year, the collection continues through the end of September.

The beauty of Plant a Row for the Hungry is that it's flexible. Don't want to tend to a garden all summer? Volunteer to help someone else for a few weeks.

Don't have a big yard? Plant some container tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers.

Think the effort's too much for one person? Team up with a group of friends, or a neighbor, or work with your child's scout troop.

The goal is not transforming the back yard into the back 40 acres. It's to provide fresh produce - something in high demand and low supply - to area food pantries and soup kitchens.

The program started by the Garden Writer's Association of America is based on the premise that gardeners love to share and almost always harvest more than they can eat from their gardens.

Surprisingly, though, fresh produce is not commonly donated to organizations that help provide meals for the needy. Most donations are in the form of long-lasting canned goods. Even then, those diminish dramatically during summer months when folks are busy with vacations, responsibilities around the house and plenty of outside activities.

This year Northern Illinois Food Bank distributed 8.7 million pounds of food to 267 social service agencies. Of that amount, a mere 336,000 pounds was fresh produce.

But those fresh fruits and vegetables are crucial - especially to someone eating a lot of the canned goods, which are cheaper.

When you're struggling to stretch a dollar as far as it will go just to put food on the table, fresh produce can seem a luxury.

Sally Sigan knows what it's like to struggle.

She watched a sister go from financial security with all the suburban perks, to divorce - and then general assistance - in a few short months.

Before that, Sigan knew there were people in the suburbs who went to bed hungry, and worried about keeping a roof over their heads.

She just never knew one personally.

What she learned from her sister's sudden financial crisis was that "it can happen to anybody." In the midst of her sister's downward spiral, Sigan saw her rely on an important lifeline - the generosity of others.

"If she had not been given food and gifts from the church, they wouldn't have made it through the winter," the Hoffman Estates mom said.

"She was able, with help from everyone, to get back on her feet," Sigan said. Often, that's all folks need - a little help.

Sigan is extending a helping hand this year by Planting a Row for the Hungry: working with her daughter's Girl Scout troop to plant a vegetable garden in Hoffman Estates that will benefit a local food pantry.

Not only does she want to help, in the same way people supported her sister, she wants to teach the scout troop the concept of working to benefit others, as well. Each girl signed up to tend the garden for a two-week stretch this summer - always with assistance from Sigan or one of the other troop leaders.

When the bounty starts rolling in, the girls themselves will go to area food pantries.

"They've got to physically deliver it themselves," she said.

They need to see their hard work will help real, life people - even if they don't know them personally, Sigan said. It's an important starting point, she said, in understanding "there but for the grace of God go I."