The volunteer-run garden was started with the help of Myron Levenson about 10 years ago and grows produce exclusively for the Jewish Family Service Community Food Pantry. Each Tuesday, six or seven volunteers gather to plant, weed, harvest and care for the garden. Longtime volunteer Judy Sheftel also visits every other day to check and water the plants.
With guidance from volunteer master gardener Stan Tantsits, the garden produces tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, string beans, squash, basil, parsley and more. As the weather cools, volunteers transition to crops such as Swiss chard, beets, radishes and garlic, allowing donations to continue into late fall and early winter.
Judy first became involved after seeing information about the garden in Temple Beth El’s bulletin and reaching out to ask how she could help. Her commitment to giving back was inspired in part by her mother, who believed strongly in donating her time and resources to the community.
Having worked in the food business, Judy believes that “access to food is a basic right.”
For Judy, the garden is also an expression of tikkun olam, the Jewish value of repairing the world. What begins as a few volunteers tending a small garden becomes fresh, locally grown food on the tables of JFS pantry clients.
“In the scheme of things, it is a very small thing,” Judy said.
But those small things add up. Over the last two years, The Temple Beth El Community Garden has donated over 2,000 pounds of produce to the JFS Community Food Pantry.
For the families who rely on the pantry, those pounds represent more than a number. They mean access to fresh vegetables, nutritious choices and food grown with care right here in the Lehigh Valley.
Through every seed planted, garden bed tended and harvest donated, the Temple Beth El Community Farm Connection continues to grow something even bigger than produce: a stronger, more caring community.
A huge thank you to the Temple Beth El Community Farm Garden Volunteers: Judy Sheftel, Larry Center, Harris Fine, Sandi Fine, Marilyn Claire, Gale Combs, Lauren Berson, and Rebecca Hartman.
For more than a decade, volunteers with the Temple Beth El Community Farm Connection have been turning nine raised garden beds into fresh food for families experiencing food insecurity.
The volunteer-run garden was started with the help of Myron Levenson about 10 years ago and grows produce exclusively for the Jewish Family Service Community Food Pantry. Each Tuesday, six or seven volunteers gather to plant, weed, harvest and care for the garden. Longtime volunteer Judy Sheftel also visits every other day to check and water the plants.
With guidance from volunteer master gardener Stan Tantsits, the garden produces tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, string beans, squash, basil, parsley and more. As the weather cools, volunteers transition to crops such as Swiss chard, beets, radishes and garlic, allowing donations to continue into late fall and early winter.
Judy first became involved after seeing information about the garden in Temple Beth El’s bulletin and reaching out to ask how she could help. Her commitment to giving back was inspired in part by her mother, who believed strongly in donating her time and resources to the community.
Having worked in the food business, Judy believes that “access to food is a basic right.”
For Judy, the garden is also an expression of tikkun olam, the Jewish value of repairing the world. What begins as a few volunteers tending a small garden becomes fresh, locally grown food on the tables of JFS pantry clients.
“In the scheme of things, it is a very small thing,” Judy said.
But those small things add up. Over the last two years, The Temple Beth El Community Garden has donated over 2,000 pounds of produce to the JFS Community Food Pantry.
For the families who rely on the pantry, those pounds represent more than a number. They mean access to fresh vegetables, nutritious choices and food grown with care right here in the Lehigh Valley.
Through every seed planted, garden bed tended and harvest donated, the Temple Beth El Community Farm Connection continues to grow something even bigger than produce: a stronger, more caring community.
A huge thank you to the Temple Beth El Community Farm Garden Volunteers: Judy Sheftel, Larry Center, Harris Fine, Sandi Fine, Marilyn Claire, Gale Combs, Lauren Berson, and Rebecca Hartman.