April 10, 2013
April 10, 2013 – The YWCA Salem and the Marion-Polk Food Share will install a community garden for families experiencing homelessness at YWCA Salem Outreach Shelter. “Dig Day” is Saturday, April 13 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon and will include building raised beds, backfilling with cultivated dirt and planting seeds. Marion-Polk Food Share, the major contributor in this endeavor, has coordinated nearly 50 community gardens. The community garden will be used to educate low-income families about nutrition, healthy cooking and budgeting. “We are teaching parents and kids about nutritional value, where food comes from, and how to make good choices for eating, even on a budget,” said Jessica Ickes, YWCA Salem’s Health Services Director. The project enhances knowledge and gives parents and their children the opportunity to plant, nurture and cultivate their own food. What is grown in the garden will be used in the shelter’s kitchen and cooked by the families. Funding for the community garden project was provided in part by Oregon Food Bank Network Support Fund and the Marion-Polk Food Share. Volunteers are invited to participate in the YWCA Salem Outreach Shelter’s “Dig Day.” Gardening tools and supplies are needed for the families (adult and kid-sized) to work the community garden and make it flourish throughout the season. These include a wheelbarrow, shovels, rakes and rain barrels. If you would like to donate time, tools or funding, please contact the YWCA. Marion-Polk Food Share is the regional food bank serving Marion and Polk counties through a network of nearly 100 hunger-relief partners. Since 1987, MPFS has been “leading the fight to end hunger … because no one should be hungry." As the second largest of 20 regional food banks in the Oregon Food Bank Network, MPFS collects and distributes nutritional foods to food pantries, meal sites, foster homes, low-income day care centers, shelters, and senior housing sites. YWCA Salem works to ensure women, girls and families in Marion and Polk counties are healthy, empowered and supported. Upholding the YWCA USA's mission of eliminating racism and empowering women, we focus on the specific needs of our community in three service areas: Shelter, Health and Empowerment. For more information, visit www.ywcasalem.org or call 503-581-9922.