Shortly after the 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes, Tom was trying to leave work at his company, Greene Tool Systems, when he noticed long lines at The Foodbank.
“The lines were all the way around, and they were back out past my plant, and I couldn’t get out of the parking lot,” he said.
Tom and his son Charlie discussed how they could make an impact on food insecurity in the area and decided to make a greenhouse.
“We were going to build a greenhouse and bring the food down, but we figured out real quick that we couldn’t manage a greenhouse by ourselves,” Tom said. “So we came in and I talked to Michelle Riley [CEO at The Foodbank Inc.]. Michelle had a plan to build a greenhouse, and we hit it off and we came together with a plan.”
More than two years later, the Beverly K. Greenehouse’s first harvest is ready. The harvest included organic lettuce and greens. About 400 bags of greens were distributed Monday and an estimated 1,500 bags will be harvested by the end of the week, according to The Foodbank.
The Foodbank also plans to send home instructions to families receiving the produce that shows them how to grow more lettuce at home.
“The big thing is we wanted to create something that would last, something that would provide for the community for years to come and also provide an opportunity for the young people in the neighborhood to learn about gardening,” Tom said.
He added that he and his son wanted the greenhouse to be self-sustaining so it wouldn’t draw from the foodbank’s funds. Tom’s son Charlie operates a business that grows plants and native species and donates half of its profits back to The Foodbank Inc.
Tom said his company’s been in the area for more than 20 years.
“One of the things that we committed to when we came down here was to give back to the community,” he said. “...We’re just so proud of this community and this area that’s our home.”
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