It might be hard to believe that in a community as beautiful and bountiful as Webster, many of our town’s residents live below the poverty line. Among them are households with children and parents that have jobs, the elderly or disabled, and refugees who have settled in Webster away from their war-torn homelands.
For the last 25 years, Webster NY Hope — one of Webster’s most awesome community agencies — has been helping these neighbors in need by providing food to as many as 80 Webster families each week. For the last ten of those years, the agency has been supplementing their food distribution with fresh vegetables, harvested from a large garden created in 2015 by Girl Scout Katie Roy, who built it as a Gold Award project.
The garden has been a tremendous asset; last year alone, Hope volunteers harvested more than 500 pounds of fresh produce, which was often distributed on the same day that it was picked.
But that garden has seen better days. The wood surrounding the container beds was rotting away and the whole garden needed renovation. So this year, Hope volunteers are replacing that garden in a creative way, and would love for the entire Webster community to join the effort.
The new garden will feature 27 individual raised containers, each measuring 5′ by 5’17”, placed in rows with aisles between them to allow access. Project Manager (and Hope volunteer) Mark Dembs explained that even though they’ll be installed within the garden’s original fenced-in area, the aisles between them will be narrower, allowing for more growing area.
“The reason we did 27 is that it gives us about 17 percent more growing area than previously,” Dembs said. “But were also doing it so that we can add six more as needed. We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew right away.”
Hope volunteers decided not to just replace the rotted-out wood, since using more weather-resistant pressure-treated wood is not a viable option for a garden. Instead, they went with the aluminum planters, which have an added bonus: the tall sides allow for the option of installing a memorial sign on the side of each one.
And that’s where the greater Webster community comes in.
Webster Hope invites community members to help provide fresh produce for their neighbors in need, while at the same time honoring someone in their own lives. For a donation of $200, you can sponsor one of these handsome containers. Your donation will cover the cost of the container, including all the soil and irrigation needed to keep it healthy. It also includes (if you want) a vinyl sign attached to the side with your business, organization or family name included. Webster Hope volunteers will lovingly care for the gardens, and you’ll know you’re helping your neighbors in a big way.
one of the planters
For more information, email Margery Morgan, Webster Hope, Inc. Director, at websternyhope@gmail.com or call (585) 265-6694. (I’ve also posted a form below which you can run off to sponsor your container.)
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(posted 4/25/2024)
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