Volunteers needed for Community Garden - Dubois County Free Press, Inc.

As Memorial Hospital Foundation begins a second year of its garden project, volunteers are being sought to help with tasks like planting, weeding, harvesting and delivering produce.

Last year the hospital planted about three-fourths of an acre at the Lodge, on South Newton Street; zucchini, corn and cantaloupe were among the homegrown produce served in the hospital café and on patient trays. This year the project has expanded to a two-acre plot, with intentions of getting the produce to “food deserts” and food banks in several counties in the hospital’s service area.

According to the national nonprofit hunger-relief organization Feeding America, 10.8 percent of Dubois County’s population was “food insecure” in 2013, the most recent year for which the statistics are available. That means more than 4,500 county residents had limited or uncertain access to healthy and safe food.

Feeding America numbers for surrounding counties include 12.6 percent (2,640 people) in Spencer County; 13.3 percent (1,700 people) in Pike County; 13.1 percent (1,350 people) in Martin County; and 12.5 percent (3,990 people) in Daviess County.

Studies have shown that an increase in food insecurity is followed by an increase in health care costs.

Memorial Hospital Foundation’s HOPE — Helping Others Produce Enthusiasm — Garden not only will help meet food needs in the region but also is helping the hospital fulfill its mission to use the Lodge acreage to its fullest potential.

The garden project also falls in line with the Catholic Health Association’s 2010 call for hospitals to be involved with environmental sustainability and the ongoing requests of hospitals across the country to address the entire needs of the communities they serve.

Dominic McKnight, 8, and Adaysha Smiley, 8, of Mrs. Messmer's class, planted seeds to help start the HOPE Garden. Fifth Street Elementary's six kindergarten classes, six first-grade classes and five second-grade classes, or over 450 students, filed into the stable to plant seeds for the garden Friday. — Dominic McKnight, 8, and Adaysha Smiley, 8, of Mrs. Messmer’s class, planted seeds to help start the HOPE Garden. Fifth Street Elementary’s six kindergarten classes, six first-grade classes and five second-grade classes, or over 450 students, filed into the stable to plant seeds for the garden Friday. <File photo>

To get this year’s garden started, schoolchildren planted over 2,000 vegetable seeds in egg cartons in mid-March. Within the next few weeks, volunteer help will be needed to transplant those seedlings outdoors.Hospital representatives involved with the project are making a list of interested individuals, organizations, family groups, etc. to contact as garden work needs done from now into the fall.

To volunteer, contact Memorial Hospital Foundation Executive Director Mike Jones, who serves on the garden committee, at 812-996-8428 or at: mjones@mhhcc.org