Veteran gardener, little sprout contribute to efforts

Helping neighbors doesn't have to mean getting a community together to raise a barn.

Or collecting millions of dollars in relief.

Sometimes help arrives one tomato at a time. And that's perfectly OK.

Jeni Huhta is a big believer in the concept that every little bit helps -- and whenever she has some produce left over in her small garden, she tries to do her part.

Brookelyn Velmont can barely wait to make her contribution.

For her, it doesn't matter whether the tomatoes are ripe or even still on the vine, which is perfectly understandable considering she's only 2 years old.

"When we go back there (to the garden), once she gets started pulling the red ones she wants all the green ones, too," Brookelyn's mother, Michelle said.

Both donors are helping fill the coffers at the Palatine Township food pantry.

For the past two years, Huhta's used what she needed from her eight tomato plants, shared some with friends, and taken the rest to the food pantry. It's one of the 54 drop-off sites in the Daily Herald's Giving Garden program.

"My garden is relatively small, but I enjoy it so much. This year to date I have given over 10 pounds of vegetables to the Giving Garden and my goal is 15 pounds," the Palatine gardener said.

"It is my own competition with myself."

All those 15-pound donations add up. The Giving Garden program has exceeded this year's goal of 65,000 pounds, and drop-off continues until Oct. 1.

Brookelyn's garden in Palatine started as a project with her father, Mike.

"This is the first year we've done a garden," Michelle Velmont said. "We did it to teach Brookelyn where food comes from. She loves to pick the vegetables and we have to keep reminding her to wait until they're ready!"

They're growing tomatoes, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and squash. Some of their other experiments, like watermelons, didn't turn out so well.

When they delivered the first batch of produce to the pantry, staff members asked for Brookelyn's address so they could send her a thank-you card.

That went over almost as well as the chance to pick more vegetables.

The little 2-year-old ran around the house, her mother said, yelling "I got a thank-you card. I got a thank-you card."

There's a pretty good chance the recipients of her tomatoes and zucchini shared her enthusiasm.