(WXYZ) — A community garden in Eastpointe is working to combat food insecurity by providing free produce to neighbors in need, but they need more volunteers to expand their efforts.
Watch Whitney Burney's video report:
The Eastpointe Community Garden, run by nonprofit Urban Seed, has grown thousands of pounds of food since its inception in 2012. All produce is grown in their giving garden and given away, completely free of charge, to community members every Saturday.
The garden also rents out raised beds for $40 a year to neighbors who are interested in learning more about gardening or trying their hand at it but may not have the space or opportunity at home. The money raised helps to pay the garden's water bill as they grow produce.
"It's just a really magical place," said William Randazzo, who is the president of Urban Seed.
Randazzo is one of the dedicated gardeners that neighbors can find tending to the dozens of raised beds at the garden.
"I have radishes up the front. I have peas growing all up the back. This is our pea trellis," said Randazzo as he walked 7 News Detroit crews through the garden Tuesday. "We've already started with our spring crop. We've started with radishes and peas and broccoli and cabbage. Once those are ready to harvest, we'll get started with our summer crop.”
While the garden has been successful in providing fresh produce to those in need, organizers say they need more community support to meet their goals.
"We need more hands, like, that's simply put. We need more people to come here and donate free labor on their days off," said John Hofmann, who is one of the garden's founding members.
Last year, the community garden grew about 1,600 pounds of produce. This year, they hope to increase that amount to 2,000 pounds of food to give away to the community. They’re also working to bring this operation to other municipalities, including in Warren where they’re hoping to build a community garden near 8 Mile and Schoenherr.
The garden's expansion plans come at a critical time as food insecurity affects an estimated 12% of households in Macomb County, according to Feeding America.
"People have a really difficult time making hard decisions like ‘am I going to purchase my medications or am I going to buy food? Am I going to take care of my animals or am I going’… it's really hard. To know that we can make just a little bit of a difference in somebody's life or let them know that they're seen or they're important and somebody does care about them. I don't think I have the words to express how that makes me feel personally," said Hofmann.
The official volunteer season kicks off at the community garden on May 17. Those interested in helping or donating can find more information on the Urban Seed website. There’s also information on raised bed rentals and donations.
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