The
Faith Mission Kitchen Garden
By Rick Brown
My wife Yvonne and I have been long time supporters of Faith
Mission here in Columbus. Their commitment to, and ability
to effectively assist the homeless has always impressed us both.
So when I heard about their very first foray into urban gardening
I wanted to find out more.
I had a religion professor in college, Dr. Carl Skrade, who
used to say, “Faith is not believing in something unbelievable.”
His point…or at least a part of it…was that the
walk is more important than the talk. And
this is exactly the approach Faith Mission takes. They have
two locations, one downtown and a second on 8th Avenue…or
Faith on 8th as it is called. The inaugural urban garden is
at the 8th Avenue facility.
The organization is no stranger to hunger and food. In 2008
downtown Faith Mission served an average of 735 free meals a
DAY! In January of this year 929 meals were served daily. And
beyond feeding, 100,098 nights of emergency shelter were provided
for those in need by Faith Mission. The projection for 2009
is 115,00 nights of shelter. But that figure could easily be
higher, especially considering the grip of America’s current
economic downturn.
Free meals are a wonderful gift. But because meals depend mostly
on donations, fresh vegetables are mostly a luxury. That is
one of the very big reasons for this year’s urban garden
project. Not only will fresh produce be a healthy boon to Faith
Mission’s meal, but many shelter residents, volunteers
and employees will share in the satisfaction and rewards of
growing delicious food, many for the very first time.
Under the skilled direction of Dr. Job Ebenezer, founder of
Technology
for the Poor 100 hard plastic kiddie pools have been transformed
into “raised beds” for an extremely colorful and
exciting gardening venture. I had the privilege of meeting Dr.
Ebenezer and we talked about not just the importance of feeding
people, but also the revelation of connecting with the earth
and its relationship with life itself. A quiet, gentle man with
an aura of empowered wisdom, Mr. Ebenezer, I’m sure will
multiply his past successes with Urban gardens here in Columbus,
Ohio. His 1993 rooftop garden in Chicago atop the offices of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America saw a harvest of
almost 1000 pounds vegetables utilizing only 40 kiddie pools,
12 used tires and some feed sacks.
Of course no charitable organization, even with Dr. Ebenezer’s
assistance, can succeed without local support, volunteers and
donations. Contributors include: The Ohio State University Biological
Sciences greenhouse, Wal-Mart, United Way of Central Ohio, Livingston
Seed Company, Rebuilding Together Columbus, The ELCA, and Jones
Topsoil.
If you would like to donate fresh produce for Faith Mission’s
kitchen please contact Tony Williams at 614.224.6617. Those
willing to volunteer can go to www.faithmissionofohio.org
for more information.
Naked Sunfish will continue to chronicle the progress of the
Faith Mission Kitchen Garden. It is faith you can believe in
because there is no doubt of its success!
