Community Action Planning Council seeks support of the third annual Seeds & Needs campaign. Community members are asked to donate gardening supplies, such as fruit and vegetable seeds, small potting spades, start-up potting cups, and bags of potting soil – all of which will be made available to low-income families in an effort to promote and encourage healthy eating habits. At the conclusion of the campaign, families will be invited to attend a special Grow with Community Action event where they will be provided with gardening instruction and supplies to start their own gardens.
Through its food pantry, Community Action Planning Council distributes food to thousands of families each year. Visitors to the pantry often find healthy food options cost prohibitive. Seeds & Needs encourages low-income individuals to make the most of their household budgets by growing their own fruits and vegetables.
Seeds & Needs is a community approach to healthy living. Last year, community members donated more than 3,000 packets of seeds and other gardening materials that were distributed to Community Action families and to local schools and food pantries. Master gardeners from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County offered gardening instruction. Cape Vincent Correctional Facility and the Food Bank of Central New York provided tomato and green pepper starter plants in buckets which make great portable gardens for families with limited yard space.
Please consider supporting Seeds & Needs. Make a donation, organize a gardening supply drive, or put a collection box within your place of work to encourage customers or coworkers to contribute to Seeds & Needs.
Donations will be collected through the spring and distributed to families on May 28 during a Grow with Community Action 50th anniversary open house event. For more information or to make a donation, contact Mary Jane Mathewson at 315.782.4900, extension 233.