Guest guest Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 Did yoi say tomatoes??? If you ever need to get rid of any just let me know. Im always looking for fresh tomatoes. My dad used to grow them and I was in heaven, but when he moved a couple years ago he stopped. TaraElise Hayden-Ferdman <ehaydenf wrote: Thought some of you out there "growing your own" might be interestyed in this. Got this after my gorgeous heirloom tomatoes took over my whole veggie plot ( I have really learned the meaning of "indeterminant growth"! Oi!), but will definitely do this next year. Elise http://www.gardenwriters.org/Par/ According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one in ten households in the United States experiences hunger or the risk of hunger. Many frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for an entire day. Approximately 25 million people, including 9.9 million children, have substandard diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. In the past year, the demand for hunger assistance has increased by 40%, and research shows that hundreds of hungry children and adults are turned away from food banks each year because of lack of resources. (More hunger statistics.) The purpose of PAR is to create and sustain a grassroots program whereby garden writers utilize their media position with local newspapers, magazines and radio/TV programs to encourage their readers/listeners to donate their surplus garden produce to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America's hungry. PAR's success hinges on its people-helping-people approach. The concept is simple. There are over 70 million gardeners in the U.S. alone, many of which plant vegetables and harvest more than they can consume. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food banks and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger. Food agencies will have access to fresh produce, funds earmarked for produce can be redirected to other needed items and the hungry of America will have more and better food than is presently available. PAR's role is to provide focus, direction and support to volunteer committees who execute the programs at the local level. We help gather the human resources necessary to form a nucleus for a local committee. Then we provide training and direction to enable the committee to reach out into the community. Finally, we assist in coordinating the local food collection systems and monitor the volume of donations being conveyed to the soup kitchens and food banks. PAR is proving that every individual can make a difference in his/her community. (Last year, PAR had over 600 volunteer committees with an average of 45 people involved in each program totaling 27,000 volunteers!) PAR began in Anchorage, AK, in the garden column of Jeff Lowenfels, former Garden Writers Association president, when he asked gardeners to plant a row of vegetables for Bean's Cafe, an Anchorage soup kitchen. Since then, PAR has grown exponentially through continued media support, individual and company sponsorship, and volunteerism. It took the first five years to reach the major milestone of a cumulative total of one million pounds of donated produce. In the next two years, a million pounds of food was donated each year. This is a significant contribution considering that each pound of food makes four meals. Last year, more than 1.3 million pounds of produce were donated generating meals for over 5.5 million needy recipients. All this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape - just people helping people. PAR's current goal is to make more than 8 million pounds of produce available to food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations by our tenth anniversary in 2004. In 2002, GWA established a supporting 501©(3) charity called the Garden Writers Association Foundation to administer and expand the PAR program. Make a Donation GWA Foundation Plant a Row for the Hungry 10210 Leatherleaf Court Manassas, VA 20111 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 I will be drying some of them for winter soups and marinara sauces, but will be more than happy to share the wealth! There are SO MANY of them, just waiting for a little bit o' sun... It is both overwhelming and delightful to behold! Elise --- Tara <peechysweett71 wrote: > Did you say tomatoes??? If you ever need to get rid > of any just let me know. Im always looking for > fresh tomatoes. My dad used to grow them and I was > in heaven, but when he moved a couple years ago he > stopped. > > Tara > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 sounds good to me. TaraElise Hayden-Ferdman <ehaydenf wrote: I will be drying some of them for winter soups andmarinara sauces, but will be more than happy to sharethe wealth! There are SO MANY of them, just waitingfor a little bit o' sun... It is both overwhelming anddelightful to behold!Elise--- Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 Greetings Elise, I'd be interested in some of those tomatoes as well. Are you in the Washington, DC area? Peace, Wanda , Elise Hayden-Ferdman <ehaydenf> wrote: > I will be drying some of them for winter soups and > marinara sauces, but will be more than happy to share > the wealth! There are SO MANY of them, just waiting > for a little bit o' sun... It is both overwhelming and > delightful to behold! > > Elise > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 I'm in Montgomery Village (next to Gaithersburg, upper Mont.Co.) Elise --- afrikanpeace <afrikanpeace wrote: > Greetings Elise, > > I'd be interested in some of those tomatoes as well. > Are you in the > Washington, DC area? > > > Peace, > Wanda > > > , Elise Hayden-Ferdman > <ehaydenf> > wrote: > > I will be drying some of them for winter soups and > > marinara sauces, but will be more than happy to > share > > the wealth! There are SO MANY of them, just > waiting > > for a little bit o' sun... It is both overwhelming > and > > delightful to behold! > > > > Elise > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Really close to me, yeah, yum yum tomatoes TaraElise Hayden-Ferdman <ehaydenf wrote: I'm in Montgomery Village (next to Gaithersburg, upperMont.Co.) Elise--- afrikanpeace <afrikanpeace wrote:> Greetings Elise,> > I'd be interested in some of those tomatoes as well.> Are you in the > Washington, DC area?> > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Elise- I live in Silver Spring and would be estatic if I could have some tomatoes.....mine aren't doing so well. Claudine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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