Donate to the Community Garden
The funding will be used to continue the establishment and building of a community garden at the Pennsylvania Council of Churches headquarters, at 900 S Arlington Ave, Harrisburg, PA 17109. The Community Garden Project is one component of our outreach designed to engage communities as people grow their own food; we aim to educate and encourage the consumption of fresh and healthy foods. One social consideration in our faith commitment is that we seek to address the need for access to affordable and nutritious food, providing people with opportunities to participate, as we collaborate with communities to address issues of hunger and promote healthy eating. The Pennsylvania Council of Churches is creating a space where people can grow food in an intergenerational context where healthy food choices are encouraged and created.
The Council of Churches is committed to engaging people, churches, and community organizations to enhance physical and economic health. Our role is to provide a free space for growing food, preparing food, and ultimately creating entrepreneurial enterprises for people in the community. We are committed to working with faith communities, schools, businesses, hospitals, medical facilities, and government entities to create opportunities for community health and food production. Our mission is to teach people to cultivate their own food and develop their skills for healthy living.
The target audience for our community garden is Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and the Lower Paxton Township, residents facing food insecurity. In 2023, 37,370 people in Dauphin County were food insecure (Source: Feeding America). Our community garden aims to combat hunger in the Harrisburg area by providing a space for residents to grow healthy, affordable food in their community. Furthermore, according to the most recent US Census, 12.9% of Dauphin County residents are living in poverty. This statistic further emphasizes the need and urgency to provide affordable, healthy food options in the region. It is estimated that more than 32,000 residents in Dauphin County face food insecurity. Black households are two and a half to three times more likely than white, non-Hispanic households to face food insecurity. Child food insecurity is also a pervasive reality to which we are responding. In Dauphin County alone, more than 12,000 children are uncertain about where their next meal will come from. Children make up nearly 40% of the food-insecure population in Dauphin County. We will also seek to partner with local schools, inclusive of grades K-8, to create a student herb garden; this will encourage children and youth to learn how to grow their own food. We will also work with judicatories and churches within the Keystone Conference of the United Church of Christ, The Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania and the Synod of the Trinity, The Presbyterian Church of America.
There is a need for non-profits like the Pennsylvania Council of Churches to partner with civil and community organizations to enhance our ability to address hunger at the grassroots level. Lower Paxton Township is engaged in a concerted effort to reach communities that face challenges with their access to fresh food. We will also partner with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to provide opportunities for classes on healthy eating, addressing diabetes, which is a major issue in communities of color, and creating plant-based eating altematives that enhance heart-healthy lifestyles.
Through direct learning and community engagement, the Pennsylvania Council of Churches Community Garden will educate participants on how to grow their own food. They will gain skills in food cultivation, healthy living, and economic well-being. Regardless of background or religious affiliation, the community garden will be a space where the community can come together to grow fresh, affordable food. By improving access to food, participants will gain a sense of ownership, sufficiency, and community empowerment.
