Hi, I'm Julia. I am a communication intern with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and have written a few blog posts on the Behind the Scenes blog about my first-hand experiences with the Food Shuttle! One of those experiences recently involved the Farm and Gardens crew. The work we did is more behind the scenes-type work, that you might not know about, and may give you a glimpse into what it takes in preparing for a new community garden opening. I spent my afternoon with them by helping canvass the surrounding neighborhoods for the new garden site out at Alliance Medical Ministry in Raleigh. We went to speak with residents in the surrounding neighborhoods to ask about their interest in the gardens and inviting them to a community forum that the Food Shuttle was holding on at Alliance Medical.
At the homes I went to while we were canvassing, everyone seemed really interested in the garden and what it could bring to their community! A lot of the people who I talked to were excited to have a garden in their community and were looking forward to seeing it bring the community together in a healthy way.
According to Sun Butler: The community garden at Alliance Medical Ministries holds great promise and will be a focal point for increasing awareness about the importance of good nutrition and fresh local produce in our diets. If you would like to volunteer, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s Alliance Community Garden will be a rewarding and exciting experience!
Canvassing itself was a unique experience, because it’s not very common anymore. I enjoyed being able to use my outgoing, friendly personality and interpersonal communication skills (I’m glad my major at NC State is being put to good use!) to greet these people and tell them about the Food Shuttle and our new garden. I also enjoyed spending a warm sunny afternoon with Amanda and getting to know her better! If you haven't met her yet, I highly recommend coming out to one of the Gardens on a Friday or Saturday and volunteering at a crew call and meeting her there!
The Alliance Medical Community Garden is now our 3rd community garden! We are really excited to get things going out there so that you have more opportunities to work at crew calls! Keep an eye out for updates on the Alliance Medical Community Garden!