TransAlta Retirees POWER Garden

The acronym stands for Projects Organized with Energetic Retirees, but POWER is an understatement for these dedicated TransAlta pensioners. Since 1999, more than 60 passionate volunteers have tended the .55-hectare parcel that grows vegetables for the sole purpose of donating them to the Food Bank. A partnership with Eagle Lake Landscapers in 2020 added a new 1-acre garden, the Get Growing Garden, to their inventory, doubling the donation of fresh vegetables.  

John Holmes, a full-time volunteer with TransAlta’s POWER Garden for the past seven years, says farming is in his blood so he was instantly drawn to the idea of urban and community gardening. “I think its watching things grow. You nurture them, you pull out the bad weeds and it’s all about this,” The feeling of pride and satisfaction from gardening is multiplied, Holmes says, from the added element of donating the food.  

Fred Ritter, TransAlta POWER Group Coordinator agrees, saying, “Operation of the gardens with a group of hardworking and enthusiastic volunteers, including strong sponsorship, is one of the most satisfying experiences that I’ve been engaged in. You know your gardening efforts go towards providing fresh produce to people in need and that energizes folks!”  

Chevron Retirees Garden of Eat’n

In 1997 Marlene and Jack Begg wanted to do something helpful in their own community and realized they could make a difference right in their own backyard. That first year, 25 volunteers from AmoCARES, BP and Chevron combined their forces to plant, weed and harvest almost four thousand pounds of beets, carrots, potatoes and onions.  

After a few years hiatus, the Garden of Eat’n was reborn in a new location. A core group of hard-working volunteers has inspired a new generation of community gardeners. Ted Spearing, Chevron Retirees Association, Garden of Eat’n Coordinator, says “Our volunteers took to the challenge and have enjoyed working together to create a garden that now produces a reliable annual vegetable crop. The opportunity to grow fresh food for people in need inspires our team’s seasonal efforts. By working together our volunteers and supporters are making a difference!”   

Feed The Hungry Garden 

When this garden started, the produce grown was used to serve healthy, high-quality meals to homeless and marginalized Calgarians at Feed the Hungry, a program of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.  In 2017, they planted a large plot just outside the city limits where their clients helped grow and harvest additional fresh produce for the Calgary Food Bank. Although the Feed the Hungry program has ceased in the wake of the pandemic, the garden is still producing thousands of pounds of vegetables for use in the thousands of hampers distributed every week.