Sarah @ Shawnee - Booklette

Name:
Sarah Bachman

Institution:
Shawnee State University

Community Partner:
Portsmouth Pantry Garden

What did you do in 8 weeks?
Over the past 8 weeks I worked at the Portsmouth Pantry Garden growing produce to distribute to local pantries. I helped to educate students who volunteered in the garden about the importance of sustainable agriculture, local food movements (as opposed to shipping in food from far-away locations) and tried to instill in them a sense of pride for the work they were doing. I also helped to oversee court-appointed volunteers when they came to work in the garden. My fellow VISTA's and I helped to raise awareness about the garden by having a booth at the Farmer's Market each week where we accepted donations and handed out information on the garden. We also organized a canning demonstration and and hosted a fundraiser dinner to benefit the future of the garden.

What did you learn?
I learned how to grow food on a large scale with limited resources.

What was your biggest impact?
The biggest impact that the garden had was feeding dozens of families who had little access to fresh produce.

How has the experience changed you and the community you served?
The community has really rallied around the garden and many people feel they have a stake in its future. It has given sore residents a sense of pride in their community as well. A lot of people have opened their hearts and their pocketbooks to help their fellow townspeople. It has also inspired some people to start their own gardens and to think more about what they are feeding themselves and their families. As for how the garden has changed me, it has given me hope when it comes to helping others in knowing that it can be accomplished. Sometimes it seems like a daunting task to feed the masses but I know now that with a little sweat and time, we can feed everyone who has a need. the experience has made me want to devote more of my life to helping others.

Quotes from the community partner of a community member about the services you were able to bring to the community:
We had a facebook page for the Pantry Garden (search Portsmouth Pantry Garden). We mostly used the page to update people on our work, when we would be in the garden, when we were distributing food and so on. But on occasion, people would leave comments for us and one post in particular really stuck with me and my fellow VISTA's. A man by the name of Kyle Rooney posted the following: "Portsmouth, for the first time in my life, you have made me proud to call you home." that really touched us because a lot of people in Portsmouth don't feel proud of their community anymore and it was nice that we were able to change that for someone.