Community service group’s Harvest Festival to celebrate success

Many people just need a little education and a jump start to make dramatic changes in their lives.

For the past eight years, Growing Places Garden Project (GPGP) has helped families take that leap by providing fresh vegetables and health and nutrition education to economically disadvantaged residents within 22 towns and cities around North Central Massachusetts. To celebrate its success, GPGP is hosting its first Harvest Celebration Sunday, Oct. 18, from 3 to 6 p.m., at the nostalgic Strand Theatre in Clinton. The celebration will feature the critically acclaimed documentary, Food Inc., an exposé on the nation’s food industry, and will include a meal that chefs from Gibbet Hill Grill in Groton and Tailgaters Grille in Clinton will prepare from items donated by local farms and businesses. GPGP invites the community to attend; registration is available at www.growingplaces.org.

GPGP co-founders Cindy Buhner and Kate Deyst, both of Harvard, began this mission eight years ago, and it’s because of their commitment and that of many volunteers and supporters that the organization has continued to grow year after year. Since 2001, Growing Places Garden project has helped approximately 678 people grow vegetables, gain self-confidence, and learn how to take more control over their health.

GPGP’s program goes beyond just installing raised-bed gardens for families in need. GPGP volunteers take the time to ensure garden success by educating their clients through a curriculum of core competencies, by way of lectures/workshops, ongoing newsletters, mentorships, and enhanced website content. The organization commits two years of guidance to each family, with a goal of building successful, lifelong gardeners.

Since hiring a director one year ago, GPGP has been able to significantly expand its business, serving twice the number of clients with 69 percent more volunteers. “Much of our recent success is due to hiring a full-time executive director, Jodi Breidel, who can focus on day-to-day operations, business development, and community outreach,” says Deyst.

Briedel is focused on the future and broadening GPGP’s services within the community. One program in the works includes developing container gardens that would enable clients to grow vegetables without using raised beds. This is particularly important, not only to families facing housing insecurity, but also to those without access to land, whom GPGP is unable to serve at this time. Another important planned initiative is collaborating with local schools to implement gardens where children, teachers, and the community at large can reap the benefits of growing food and becoming gardeners. Lastly, GPGP plans to offer additional nutrition education programs, in partnership with Share our Strength Operation Frontline, by teaching cooking skills, practical nutrition information, and budgeting strategies that clients can use immediately and carry with them into the future.

“We are so excited to be able to celebrate our community at this special time of the year and could not do it without the generous support of our volunteers, clients, and sponsors,” says Breidel. “This celebration [on Oct. 18] will help keep our momentum ‘growing’ so that we can increase community engagement and expand our services to meet the increasing needs of our clients.”

The Oct. 18 Harvest Celebration marks the group’s collective successes and significant growth of the last year, as well as the vision of its future and the future of the communities it serves. GPGP organizers invite anyone with an interest in their mission to contact them to assist in a variety of available roles, from digging in the dirt to administration, to coaching new gardeners.