Wheaton church plants garden for food pantry
A few classes of English as a second language students took a break from their studies Saturday morning at a church in Wheaton to crouch under a tarp and plant vegetables to donate to a food pantry.
Produce from the small garden at St. Paul Lutheran Church will be donated to People’s Resource Center in Wheaton, which also sponsors the English classes held Saturdays at the church.
Speaking in Spanish, Luis Hernandez of Carol Stream said the morning of gardening was a good opportunity for his children to learn about plants and how to grow them.
His daughter, 12-year-old Laura Hernandez, said she was excited to help plant potatoes and tomatoes for the food pantry. After all, she enjoys fresh vegetables and fruits, too, she said.
Everything in the garden is organic, including okra, zucchini, lettuce, marigolds to keep rabbits away and even jalapeno peppers, said church volunteer Lisa Jackson of Wheaton.
The thin, white tarp covering the garden will be removed in about two weeks, Jackson said, once volunteers are confident the unpredictable Midwestern spring won’t be too harsh on the small plants.
Once summer and fall roll around, the freshly grown food will be a treat for pantry visitors because the pantry’s main food supplier, the Northern Illinois Food Bank, often does not have such delicacies, said Kim Perez, executive director of People’s Resource Center.
“Most of the food we’re able to get from there does not include fresh produce,” Perez said. “We’re so excited because it’ll be so great to have fresh fruits and vegetables.”
The gardening project brings together a variety of church volunteers, from the earth ministry team that will feed the plants with compost and water from a rain barrel, to an Eagle scout who prepared the land and fenced in the plot, said the Rev. Mark Williamson, associate pastor.
“We try to be good stewards of our space,” he said — even down to a small grassy space between the church’s parking lot and a home’s backyard where the 5-yard rectangular garden is located.