Free garden produce available Saturday morning in Charles City

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Free fresh produce from local gardens will be available to anyone who needs it on Saturday.

The food will be distributed from 10 a.m to noon on a first-come, first-served basis at the westside drive-up entrance at Trinity United Methodist Church in Charles City.

Everyone participating is asked to wear a mask, and masks will be provided to those who don’t have one.

The produce is being donated through the Growing Iowa Together program, which received a grant through the ISU Extension Service, as well as Master Gardeners and SNAP funding.

Susan Jacob, a Master Gardener who applied for the grant, said the Growing Iowa Together program was set up to provide help, education and space to get people into gardening in Charles City. The plan had been that extra produce would be donated to the local Messiah’s Food Pantry.

However, the pantry has been closed because of COVID-19 concerns and has only been distributing food by appointment or delivery. The Northeast Iowa Food Bank from Waterloo has been sending trucks to Charles City about once a month to distribute food to people who qualify.

Jacob said the fresh produce availability is too uncertain for the food bank visits.

“As we don’t have enough donated produce for everyone, we are not able to tie into that method of distribution,” she said. “With gardeners donating dozens of tomatoes one week, a sack of green beans or a bushel of cucumbers the next, we never know what will be available. Hopefully, this will help us help those in need of fresh produce in our community.”

People who are raising food in the Clark Street Community Garden, FFA students who are raising food in their gardens at the fairgrounds and anyone else with extra produce from their gardens is welcome to donate to the distribution Saturday, Aug. 22, at the church, Jacob said.

Produce should be washed and brought to Trinity United Methodist Church Saturday between 9 and 10 a.m.

Jacob said she and the Extension Service were looking for ways to distribute the extra produce with Messiah’s Food Pantry currently closed.

A series of phone calls Wednesday morning “with the Chamber of Commerce, DHS, Floyd County Housing Authority, Floyd County ISU Extension, HyVee, Charles City Cares, Charles City Paying It Forward Facebook page, and Trinity United Methodist Church” came up with the plan for the Saturday morning distribution at the church, she said.