What we're doing, and how you can help.

It never hurts to clarify or remind folks (or myself!) of Harvest Stewards' mission.  It's simple: grow food and give it to hungry folks.  That's it.  There's no "market-specific value-added components of synergistic this-that-or-the-other".  Just grow and give.  This year we want to donate a ton -yes, literally: 2,000 pounds- of produce to hungry folks.  Last year I was able to grow and distribute over 150 pounds of produce mostly on my own, with more than enough garden goodies left over  for my own family.  My personal goal this year is 200 pounds, and with some careful planning, I think this will be attainable.  That puts us at 1,800 pounds to go...

And here is where I tell you what you can do to help.

1. If you have a garden, just commit to donating a portion of the produce you grow to a local foodbank or other food aid ministry.  And when I say "local", I mean it: it doesn't matter where you live, there is probably a foodbank somewhere not too far from you.  You live in the Cincinnati area?  Cool: I know of places that will accept your food donations.  You live in...  Nashville or Seattle or Albuquerque or Boise (or wherever)?  Cool: I can help you find a place that will accept your food donations.  It's a good idea to have a place in mind from the start, but don't let not knowing where to drop off your produce stand in the way of making the commitment. 
2. If you don't have a garden, you can still grow and give.  You might be amazed at the amount of stuff that can be grown in a container on your porch or balcony.  I made and used an "earth-tainer" last year and I was impressed with its results.  They're easy to build, easy to set up and they don't take up too much space.  If you live in the Cincinnati area, I can even help you make one or maybe even have you use one of mine from last year.  In short, it's a Rubbermaid container made into a largish pot with some airholes and a water reservoir.  Last summer mine produced some 70 pounds of cucumbers.  
3. If you don't have a garden and don't have space for container gardening, you can still help; if you're interested in helping in some other way, please get in touch with me.  Your help may be as simple as pitching the idea to a friend of yours who does have a garden, or who is forever telling you in August that s/he doesn't know what on earth s/he is going to do with all the zucchini s/he's getting out of the garden.  Harvest Stewards is not a 501(c)3 organization, but there are ways of making charitable contributions to us that you will be able to deduct from your income for tax purposes.  Get in touch with me to discuss this if you want to make a charitable donation. 

Ok, so that covers the "how" and the "what". I should also mention the "why" of all this too. the idea started a year or so ago, but I've recently been reading a book called Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt that crystallizes the impetus behind Harvest Stewards nicely. The idea is that those of us who call ourselves "Christians" (among whom I count myself) ought to do a lot more of the kind of stuff that Christ actually called us to do and a lot less of the stuff that he enjoined his followers from doing (or, at any rate, never specifically endorsed, and very likely wouldn't have done). For example: a lot more feeding the hungry and a lot less navel-gazing about how and why those folks came to find themselves in their present conditions. So yeah, this is an overtly religious mission. Of course, I'd be happy if you agreed with all of this, but you needn't do so in order to help.

So: give it some thought; grow a little and give a lot.