The partnership between the Betty and Jim Holmes Food Bank Garden and the Second Harvest Food Bank has been working for 13 years.
Jim Holmes Jr., a retired stockbroker, in partnership with Centenary United Methodist Church and Second Harvest, created what now is a 3-acre garden at The Children's Home. All produce from the garden is donated to the food bank.
The garden will be the site for a harvest festival at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
HarvestFest will cap off Hunger Action Month, which locally featured a series of activities Second Harvest held to promote hunger awareness throughout September.
Events included food drives at BB&T, Wells Fargo, Newbridge, Goodwill and the YWCA. A "single mingle" at the food bank brought together likeminded singles to sort and process contributions. And there were informative displays at Bookmarks and the Winston-Salem Air Show.
On Saturday, the Sawtooth School for Visual Arts will hold a workshop for the food bank's Empty Bowls program. Participants will make three bowls and contribute one.
Empty Bowls is held in the spring. For a donation of $25, participants are served soup in a bowl crafted by area artists. Participants may keep the bowl.
HarvestFest activities will include music, food prepared by the Triad Community Kitchen, and hayrides for children.
Visitors also will get to hear Mayor Allen Joines' proclamation on the history and purpose of the garden, which officially has been named in honor of Holmes, who recently died, and his wife, Betty.
Area gardeners will be able to view the garden and its beautiful farm setting at The Children's Home, a rural jewel in the heart of the city.
Visitors will learn about the garden's efforts toward sustainability, including experimenting with soil building, conservation and water use and providing for and protecting native pollinators.
The garden also serves as a model for the use and operation of a community garden dedicated to the production of produce for those in need.
As of Sept. 8, the garden had mobilized 676 volunteers during the growing season. The volunteers are from church groups, colleges, elementary schools and include many other individuals and organizations. To date, they have harvested 8,800 pounds of produce. They expect to hit 9,000 pounds by the end of the season, which typically is in late October.
Although the numbers are impressive, they only begin to address the problem of hunger in Northwest North Carolina.
Karen Chandler, special events and social media coordinator with Second Harvest, said, "The number of people who need our assistance has doubled (in the past year and a half). We could easily distribute double the amount of fresh produce we are receiving."
She added: "Three hundred thousand people benefit from the services of Second Harvest Food Bank in Northwest North Carolina, and the number is growing."
And while the need climbs, funding and support from federal and state agencies have declined.
Another key issue for Second Harvest is what Chandler identified as the seemingly ironic rise in obesity among its clients because of readily available low-cost, high-fat food that is low in nutrition. This is an area in which fresh food can influence future health care costs.
"Our partner agencies are thrilled when we get fresh produce; people rush over here to get it," Chandler said. She is encouraging the agencies Second Harvest serves to start their own plots and grow some of their own food.
"It is my view that gardens such as this fill the emergency needs of hungry people, while other groups and agencies deal with the underlying causes and policy changes that enable people to address their needs directly," said Ellen Kirby, a volunteer and coordinator at the food bank garden. "We are like an emergency room of the movement to combat hunger."
If you go
HarvestFest will be from 5:30 p.m. until dark Wednesday at The Children's Home. A donation of a garden tool or garden gloves is requested. To reach the garden, enter the main gate near Northwest Boulevard on Reynolda Road. Turn left, following the road to the farm area. After passing the soccer field on the right, follow the gravel road around and beyond the barns to the garden on your left.
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