My Nonprofit Reviews

Having retired a little over a year ago from my job as an elementary school counselor, I have been looking for the "right" kind of organization to volunteer with.  As a social worker, I found I was not finished with my need to "give" to individuals and the community after 45+ years of doing so as a professional. When I saw an article in the (very) local newspaper on America's Grow-a-Row and looked into the website, I knew I had found something special. The backstory of the organization was what impressed me.  A man who had a bit of extra produce from his vegetable plot, giving it to the local food bank and then slowly growing a very successful non-profit over the next 18 years was something I wanted to be involved with.  I started volunteering this summer, picking corn, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant. Most people do not realize what the work is like to get those tomatoes or corn they buy on their plates for dinner.  It has been a very humbling experience, working in the fields in rain and heat and mud, bending and squatting to pick the vegetables and carrying the full boxes to a central point in the field. I know now that it is good, hard, rewarding work that farmers do to provide produce for people. I also started bringing the produce to food banks, because I wanted to see the people face-to-face and hand them the bag of vegetables and fruit myself.  I feel very honored to be  part of a group that helps with getting food to those who have little or no access to fresh produce in NJ, NY and PA, especially now, when it is so needed.  I'm hooked!