Hands on Hunger to grow fresh veggies at Blandford Nature Center for those in need

Deborah Johnson Wood

Tim Emmerson has a plan for providing fresh, locally grown vegetables to soup kitchens in Greater Grand Rapids, and he's starting with Matthew's House Ministry where he volunteers as a cook and gives free meals to those in need.

Emmerson says that this year he and volunteers will grow the first Hands On Hunger Garden in two leased garden plots at Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids, using donated plants from Koetsier's Greenhouse and William Bos Greenhouse & Farm.

"I purchase food from Feeding America West Michigan to make meals for the homeless, but I spend more money out of pocket to buy veggies than to buy meat," says Emmerson, 26. "Fresh vegetables are the most important for meals, and I thought, let's grow the stuff ourselves."

So Emmerson launched Hands On Hunger whose parent company is the 6th Street Bridge Community Coalition, a nonprofit he founded to help immigrants become naturalized citizens.

"I got connected with a mobile pantry guy, John Arnold, the executive director of Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank," says Emmerson about his inspiration for feeding the hungry. "We had our first mobile food pantry at St. James Church last December and handed out about 5,000 pounds of food."

The plan is to start small with the Hands On Hunger Garden by planting cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, herbs and tomatoes – the most common ingredients for soups and chili.

Beyond that, Emmerson will plant sweet corn in his mother's garden in Jenison and hopes to secure additional garden space donated by area residents. Additionally, he says that if area gardeners will participate in Plant a Row For The Hungry, Hands On Hunger volunteers will get that produce to area soup kitchens where it's needed.

Source: Tim Emmerson, Hands On Hunger

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].