West End Community Garden celebration planned for March 20

2/5/2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The Community Garden of Birmingham’s Community Church Without Walls is based on the firm belief that the way to a community’s heart is through its stomach.

The garden, now ready to begin its third growing season, is realizing its vision to revitalize Birmingham’s West End community through the growing and sharing of naturally-grown produce. Rev. R.G. Lyons, pastor of Community Church Without Walls, invites United Methodists in the North Alabama Conference to celebrate the success of the Community Garden and help fund future crops at a fundraising dinner on March 20.

“Last year, the West End Community Gardens provided 16 families with their own garden plots, offered health-related classes for adults and youth, provided a worship space for combined worship services, offered community service opportunities for juvenile offenders, and provided a community gathering space for festivals and celebrations,” said Rev. Lyons. “One of our most faithful supporters, Chef Chris Dupont, often buys produce from the garden to serve in his fine dining restaurant. Now Chef Chris is planning a wonderful four-course meal to celebrate our success and raise money for our future.”

Reservations for the gourmet dinner, to be held at Café Dupont in downtown Birmingham, are now being accepted. The cost is $125 per person or $225 for couples. Seating is limited to 60. To make your reservation, send a check to Community Church without Walls, 1229 Cotton Ave. SW, Birmingham AL 35211. Write “garden fundraiser” in the memo section. You can also provide a scholarship so that the community gardeners can join the celebration.

The garden is not only a means of providing food, it’s also a refreshing sight amid the houses and apartment buildings of its urban setting. “I just love to sit on my porch and watch all the beautiful things growing,” commented Celeste, a senior citizen and garden neighbor. Program director Ama Shambulia agrees. “There is absolutely nothing like doing what you love and loving what you do, and the feeling that perhaps you are making a difference in someone's life.”

“I thought the garden was just a garden, but it is so much more,” said community gardener Asha Xulu. “The opportunities and the information shared have gotten me excited about having my own garden, composting and putting healthy foods in my body. Having a garden will help reduce my grocery expenses. The classes are phenomenal, information that we can truly apply to our lives, the speakers are very well chosen and the subjects are very helpful. All this goes back to the garden. It's not just a garden, but a tool that is being used to address the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.”

Future plans for the garden include providing a curb market where community residents can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, and an education center and cannery to provide a place where participants can preserve their food and participate in cooking class.

Comments

1. billy brown wrote on 2/6/2010 7:09:08 PM
way to go RG