Hope grows at Simply Crepes

There’s a very special garden growing in front of the Simply Crepes restaurant on Bay Rd. It’s special not only because of its beauty, but because it shows what great things can be accomplished when our community comes together.

The lush vegetable garden fills 18 raised beds surrounding Simply Crepes’ front patio, almost 300 square feet of growing area. They’re thick with eggplants, peppers, herbs, beans, radishes, beets and tomatoes. And the harvest is all earmarked for Webster NY Hope and the families that agency serves.

The project was conceived by Simply Crepes’ owner Pierre Heroux. A gardener himself, he had the beds installed — complete with an irrigation system — when the restaurant first opened two years ago, and has had his eye on doing something with them from the very beginning.

“My wife and I have had gardens at our home all the time,” he said. “So for us to put another garden in our ‘home’ was kind of a natural. But the reality is we’re in the restaurant business. We’re not really in the gardening business.”

Instead, he decided to have the gardens benefit the community which has been supporting his restaurants for 20 years.

After investigating various Rochester-area agencies which might benefit from the gardens, he ultimately connected with one right in town: Webster NY Hope, which provides food, clothing, household goods and financial assistance to families in need.

After consulting with Hope staff members about what herbs and vegetables would best benefit their food pantry, Heroux purchased all the plants. Hope volunteers then planted them, and are doing all the weeding, separating, pruning and harvesting. Some of the lettuce has already been harvested and given to a Ukrainian family.

The staff at NY Hope are happy to put in the work and are thrilled to have the ready supply of fresh herbs and vegetables.

NY Hope Director Margery Morgan said, “We continue to have our own garden at Holy Trinity, and now the one at Simply Crepes is a great reminder of what businesses can do to make a difference for the community.”

For Heroux, giving back just seemed like the right thing to do. He said,

There’s a lot of food insecurity in this community, a lot more than we know of. So I thought if we could create something to give back to those folks in need, it would be a good thing.

It’s a joy to give back to the community. It’s just pure joy. There’s nothing like it to know that you’re able to help people.

Simply Crepes‘ Webster/Penfield location is at 1229 Bay Rd., near Wegmans. They also have restaurants on Schoen Place in Pittsford and South Main St. Canandaigua.

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(posted 7/16/2023)

Tags: Local business, Missy Rosenberry, Simply Crepes, Webster NY, Webster NY Hope