Cormac ’26 is supporting food justice in Northern Virginia by volunteering at a community garden that donates organic produce to a local food bank, using his grant to provide new tools and contribute to a growing harvest for neighbors in need.
Every year, the Food for Others food bank in Fairfax, Virginia serves more than 64,000 people. Being one of the largest food banks in Northern Virginia, Food for Others is an essential organization in our community. Yet food banks like these rarely have a large selection of fresh produce, as most of their food has to be shelf-stable. My project is focused on assisting a local community member who runs an organic garden dedicated solely to donating her harvest to the Food for Others food bank. With my grant so far, I have purchased a whole new set of tools for her and other volunteers. In my trips to the garden I have helped with weeding, building structures, and transplanting plants. On my first day at the garden this summer, we were able to bring in our very first harvest. We ended up with around 10 pounds of organically grown green beans, zucchini, and summer squash in total, all to be donated to those in need in our community. While the growing season is only just getting started, and we still have hundreds of pounds of squash, tomatoes, peas, beans, peppers, and more to pick, seeing the progress we have made so far makes me very proud. Throughout this process, I have been learning so much from the organizer of the garden, and I plan to take all of my newfound knowledge back home to my own plots. In fact, this past weekend I added some of my own cucumbers, beans, and tomatoes to our donation pile. I am very excited to continue my work in this garden over the next month, and I hope to grow and donate as much food as possible.
