2008 Year in Review
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Whiteside County Plant a Row for the Hungry |
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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one in ten households in the United States experiences hunger or the risk of hunger. Many frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for an entire day. Approximately 25 million people, including 9.9 million children, have substandard diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. In the past year, the demand for hunger assistance has increased by 40%, and research shows that hundreds of hungry children and adults are turned away from food banks each year because of lack of resources. For the third year, University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners in Whiteside County and Whiteside County Farm Bureau are sponsoring a community service project that provides fresh, locally-grown produce for hunger relief efforts. Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) encourages local growers to plant an extra row in their gardens this spring. PAR is a nationwide initiative sponsored by the Garden Writers Association of America and Home & Garden Television. In past years, PAR projects across the United States generated over 1.25 million pounds of fresh produce for hunger relief organizations. Last year, Whiteside County brought in over 1,000 lbs of fresh produce to local food pantries. Our goal this year is to hit the TON mark. We have several Food Pantries in Whiteside County that you can take your produce to. Below is a list of Food Panties that are located in Whiteside County with drop off times and phone numbers. If you don’t have garden, but your neighbor does, maybe they will let you plant an extra tomato or pepper plant in their garden. Or another option is to go to a grocery store and purchase fresh produce and drop them off at the local food pantries. We would also like to give a thank you to all you that participated in last years PAR and a special thank you to all the Food Panties that participated in last years PAR and for Twin City Farmers Market for being a drop-off site for the produce. For more information on PAR, please call Deb Proctor, Whiteside County PAR Coordinator and Whiteside County Master Gardener at (815)213-0164 or contact Greg Clark at the Whiteside County Extension Office at (815)772-4075. Whiteside County PAR is sponsored by University of Illinois Extension and Whiteside County Farm Bureau.
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