Schools

Monmouth University Community Garden Helps Out Local Charities

Over 1,000 pounds of produce donated

Monmouth University's community garden started as a small project, but has now grown into something much larger.

The garden exceeded its goal of harvesting and donating 1,000 pounds of fresh produce to local organizations such as the Food Pantry in West Long Branch, Soup D'Shore at St. Luke's Methodist Church in Long Branch, the , Ronald McDonald House and American Recreational Military Services.

Monmouth University graduate student Sean Foran started the community garden as a field project, but did not expect it to grow into what it is today.

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“The Community Garden enables us to educate the public about gardening, sustainability and wellness, while providing Monmouth students with an opportunity to learn the importance of social responsibility,” said Robin Sakina Mama, Ph.D., professor and Dean at the Monmouth University School of Social Work.

Mama encouraged Foran to bring the community garden concept to fruition.

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“As Monmouth students and community gardeners work together to grow fresh produce, they also grow a stronger sense of commitment to the local community members and agencies they are helping," Mama said.

The Community Garden is located on the university-owned land between Beechwood and Brookwillow Avenues in West Long Branch, and started its first planting season in April 2010. This season’s harvests mark the first large donation of fresh produce to the community.

The first summer harvest began in late May with a donation to the food pantry at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in West Long Branch, which regularly serves about 300 families.

“The Community Garden’s donation enabled us to provide fresh vegetables during their growing seasons to families who wouldn’t normally be able to afford such nutritious, in-season food," Food Pantry Coordinator Debbie Keszler said. "We couldn’t even keep track of how much produce they brought in for us throughout the summer.”

Harvests from the community garden also benefited local agencies that serve specific populations in need of food donations, including the American Recreational Military Services in Eatontown, which used the donation to provide food to the families of deployed servicemen and women.

The Long Branch Senior Center, which offers various services to Long Branch seniors over age 60, used the Community Garden’s donation to supplement the lunch programs it provides on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“I can’t thank those who were involved in the community garden enough for their donations, which enabled us to deliver fresh vegetables to home-bounds, use the food for our lunch programs and make fresh sauces, and even put together little goodie-bags so our visitors and senior center participants could leave with a little treat. Everybody we serve benefited from this donation,” Long Branch Senior Center Director Pat Krosnicki said.

Fresh produce grown in the Community Garden was also donated to Soup D'Shore at St. Luke's Methodist Church, a non-profit soup kitchen serving the Long Branch community. The kitchen was started last spring by a Monmouth University entrepreneurship class. It received nearly 70 pounds of produce by July.

The community garden will also have Fall crops such as rutabaga, red beets, and green beans that will be harvested and donated in October.

For more information on the Monmouth University Community Garden, visit www.monmouth.edu/communitygarden.


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