We're kicking off our "Good People, Good Works" series this season with Deaver Wellness Farm—a produce garden in the parking lot of a hospital outside of Philadelphia, created to not only feed patients facing food insecurity, but to also teach them about the importance of nutrition.
"I had this idea because I heard that Michelle Obama at the White House was redoing the garden and using it as an educational tool with local school children, so we had this beautiful campus with all this acreage and I said, 'If the White House can do it, we can do it!' And that sort of became a rallying cry and this is what resulted from that," says Phillip Robinson, president of Deaver Health Education Center and Wellness Farm.
"The hospital has identified 40 patients who have food security needs. Those patients are delivered a bag of food biweekly, and in the bag comes a sheet saying what's in the bag to identify the crops, so they know what they're getting. Attached to that is also a tips sheet for each one of the crops [that features the] health benefits it's going to give you, storage [suggestions], how to prepare it and a recipe," says Maureen, manager of Community Health and Outreach for Deaver Health Education Center and Wellness Farm.
To help the Deaver Wellness Farm continue to grow their garden and programming, our friends at Wonderful Halos, the delicious mandarins, are giving them $10,000!