Fresh From The Heart
Food connects us as a community and builds each other up in times of need. Nothing is truer than Calgarians who, every year, come together to grow vegetables for their neighbours in need. Some are private and public community gardens, and others are organized volunteer efforts exclusively for the Calgary Food Bank. Large or small, every donation from a garden makes an incredible impact. When we can add fresh produce to a family or individual’s hamper, we are helping to build their resiliency. It is critical to eat well when you are in crisis so when we can give fresh-from-the-garden vegetables it tells someone they matter. It’s fresh from the heart!
From July through October, we distribute an average of 8,000 hampers per month. That’s fresh produce in 32,000 hampers during the garden season because of ALL garden contributions!
Grow-A-Row
When you grow-a-row, this can really add up to make an incredible difference in someone’s life. Gardening, volunteering and giving back are all great activities for your heart, and your community!
What Can I Grow?
Dirt is a good thing
Garden soil, free of pesticides or chemicals, creates a protective layer that keeps the produce fresher, longer. When we wash vegetables so they look ‘good’, they are now vulnerable to the air and will start to decompose. Special cleaners are not necessary, just a simple wash just before use is the best.
Donating Your Harvest
It’s easy! Bring your harvest to our warehouse so we can store it at the proper temperature and add to hampers right away!
When donating your produce please do not wash it. The dirt helps to keep it fresh for longer. Please drop-off your unwashed produce in a container (bag, box, bin) that you ideally don’t need back.
Sorry we don’t accept crab apples, rhubarb or any home grown fruit. Many people aren’t sure what to do with them and we find it very hard to give them away to clients and agencies.
5000 11 Street SE (Donation Centre which is Loading Dock, Door 7)
Monday to Thursday: 8 am – 7:30 pm
Friday and Saturday: 8 am – 3 pm
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Show off your gardening talents and tips by posting your pictures and videos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and be sure to tag us @CalgaryFoodBank.
#GrowARowYYC #FreshFromTheHeart
Community Gardens 2021
volunteers
pounds harvested
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 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.