How Our Garden Grows
Horizons promotes using local foods to provide nutritious, fresh produce for all by growing it in a community garden located across Fifth Street SE from the main Horizons building.
The garden started in 2010 as a partnership between Horizons, Rinderknecht Construction, and the Sixth Judicial District of the Iowa Department of Corrections. Its initial purpose was to grow fresh produce for clients in the Meals on Wheels program. Two years later, Horizons expanded the initiative by taking on a project with Feed Iowa First to increase the community’s accessibility to fresh produce, which late Feed Iowa First founder Sonia Kendrick said was “vital to health, longevity, and quality of life.”
Sonia was dedicated to building urban farms with the goal of feeding people in need, and Horizons continues those efforts by harvesting produce that is placed on a sharing table within the agency and also utilized in the salad bar at the Lunch Club for older adults. Many businesses and organizations have helped Horizons share these foods with the community, among them TrueNorth (interns pictured above right), Destinations Unlimited, Kids on Course, and the Arc of East Central Iowa.
“It would be difficult to have the kind of impact that we do without the work of volunteers,” said Sandy Rosenberger, Director of Volunteers and Marketing at Horizons. “We’re looking for people throughout the year who want to give back to their friends and neighbors, whether by working in our garden or delivering fresh food to a homebound senior.” Interested parties are encouraged to
contact Rosenberger
.
