St. George’s Episcopal Church in Hilton plants community garden that meets many needs
It’s not often that you see large vegetable gardens on church property, but drive by St. George’s Episcopal Church on Wilder Road in Hilton and that’s exactly what you’ll see. Parishioners began building raised beds last fall with the help of volunteers and the garden is now yielding a variety of vegetables that are donated to the Hilton-Parma Emergency Food Shelf.
The church partnered with Foodlink, which provided the beds, soil, seedlings and fencing, and donations from parishioners and St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Hilton also helped fund the garden. “The church has wanted to do this for several years,” said Rev. Paul Frolick, who has been with St. George’s for two years. Much of the work on the raised beds was done by volunteers on Make a Difference Day last October 26 and retired local farmer Burt Marlatt provided his expertise on how to set up and plant the garden.
Harvesting of lettuce and radishes began as early as the first week in July and now Swiss chard, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower and green peppers are available. “Soon we’ll have beans, eggplant and onions and then we’ll replant broccoli and cauliflower. In the fall, we’ll have Brussels sprouts,” said Frolick.
Parishioners, Foodlink volunteers and clients of the food shelf help harvest and weed the garden bringing produce to the food shelf every Tuesday and Friday. In July alone, St. George’s donated 40 pounds of fresh vegetables to the food shelf. “We basically have non-perishable food, so when fresh produce comes in our clients are very grateful,” said Tina Zebulske, director of the Hilton-Parma Emergency Food Shelf.
In addition to Zebulske, the H-P Shelf is staffed by 30 volunteers from local organizations and churches, as well as students. “We belong to Foodlink and our annual dues are well worth it,” said Zebulske. A grant from the New York State Department of Health Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program provides funding to purchase food through Foodlink. “People can’t buy things like paper products, hygiene items and cleaning supplies with their food stamps, so we try to always have those in stock,” she added.
The H-P Food Shelf serves residents of the Hilton School District who have emergency food needs during times of unemployment, when they have extra expenses, when their food stamps run out or when they need to supplement what they normally get. They must provide proof of residency and sometimes bring in their bills to show need.
In addition to donations from St. George’s Community Garden, the food shelf often gets donations from local farmers and even clients who have their own gardens. Since the food shelf has only one refrigerator that is used for things like eggs and butter, they have shelves outside where they place the produce when it comes in. “We can never have enough produce – it flies out as fast as we get it in,” said Zebulske.
St. George’s Church is seeking monetary donations to build four more raised beds next year as well as for trellises, seedlings and mulch. They are also looking for more volunteers to help maintain the garden. For information, call 392-4099.
The Hilton-Parma Emergency Food Shelf is open on the second floor of the Hilton Community Center, 59 Henry Street on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. and on Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. Clients may call 234-2090 to make an appointment or for information. Donation boxes are located at Tops Friendly Market in Village Plaza, the Parma Public Library on West Avenue and the Hilton Community Center.
Photo by G. Griffee
