Gardens from Church of the Open Door on Vimeo.
Who We Are:
Serve Elyria Garden Initiative is a volunteer-driven, community outreach nutrition program developed by Church of the Open Door with help from Filtrexx Foundation that serves low-maintenance, above-ground gardens to low-income families within the community. Our mission is to live the gospel of Jesus Christ by healing urban communities through serving gardens that yield freshly grown produce for families.
Our Story:
Serve Elyria started in 2009 when Open Door planned a church-wide day to serve the community. The incredible volunteer turnout and the success of completed projects at Serve Elyria on May 14, 2009 laid the foundation for Open Door to do even more the next year!
That summer, Dan Samms (Open Door) and Alex Marks (Filtrexx) connected to make garden distribution a part of Serve Elyria 2010. With immeasurable support in donations and volunteers, we gave away 300 gardens on May 15th, 2010! Volunteers from the church came out in droves to bless the community with family gardens. It was a thrilling day. Then in 2012, we gave away 750 gardens and started the process of duplicating FGI nationally.
This year, we have a new goal. We plan to empower 1,000 families to feed themselves with gardens! We need your help to do it. Your financial and volunteer support will help us provide vegetable and fruit plants, compost, planters, watering cans, and recipe books to the recipients. All gardens will be installed by volunteers on May 19th, 2011 as part of Elyria Pride Day.
You may be wondering how it is possible to install 1,000 gardens in a day. Gardensoxx make installation and care fast and easy. Have a look! Open Door Gardensoxx
Perhaps the most exciting part of this project is that each garden costs only $20 and produces enough produce to feed a family of 4 for a year! That means you can feed a family for a year for less than what it costs to take yours out to dinner!
By the way, last year we launched an effort to launch our project nationally. It is happening! In addition to our Lorain County project we are launching projects in Cleveland and Columbus (and one other city yet to be named)! Praise God!
How You Can Help:
We would love to have your help. There are three ways to get involved. You could request a garden*, give money to help someone in need receive a garden, or you could help us deliver Gardens on the big day! Sign-up to request, donate or deliver a garden today!
*If you are like so many of us and are having trouble making ends meet, then one of our gardens might really be helpful. Cared for properly, the garden will yield enough produce for the season or even the year (with canning and freezing). Consider a donation of $5, $10, or $20 to offset our cost for the garden.
