Valley United Way announced last week a new partnership with Massaro Community Farm of Woodbridge in managing the 13 neighborhood gardens of the Grow Your Own program within the five-town region of Lower Naugatuck Valley.
When Grow Your Own started at Valley United Way over four years ago, a few gardeners and garden beds were producing fresh vegetables as the Valley was exploring how to address food insecurity.
Now, the garden sites throughout Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, and Shelton contain more than 100 raised beds and have produced over 1,000 pounds of produce for community members and local food pantries.
As coronavirus has revealed the increased need for food in the community, Valley United Way sought to create a partnership with a local non-profit who could ensure the gardens were managed, and volunteers supported, in order to reach their full potential.
Massaro Community Farm, a nonprofit educational farm that has focused on food insecurity for over 10 years, was a natural fit.
David Kennedy, Interim President/COO of Valley United Way commented, “It’s a very common practice for United Ways to turn to non-profits in their community with a proven skill set to take on programs after United Way has incubated them.
"Such an action allows a United Way to better focus on its primary mission and work. In the case of Valley United Way, that means raising money to support our community’s network of exceptional non-profits, all with an eye towards making our community as strong and healthy as it can be.”
Eager to get started, Massaro will provide organic seedlings raised at their farm and will work with community volunteers to fill the garden beds with an assortment of vegetables. Tomatoes, lettuces, peppers, and cucumbers will be part of the collection that is planted in the gardens to help feed communities.
Caty Poole, Executive Director at Massaro, who is also a member of the Food Security Task Force of the Valley Council for Health and Human Services, has seen firsthand the needs of the community in the farm’s work with food pantries. "Now, when demand for hunger relief is at an all-time high, Massaro Community Farm is pleased to manage the Grow Your Own program to help ensure as much food as possible reaches families who need it most," Poole said.
Looking forward to the partnership, Kennedy said, “Valley United Way is so grateful to Caty Poole and her team at Massaro for being willing to take on the oversight of this project. The Farm’s expertise and experience, will ensure that the Grow Your Own project will have its best season ever this year - and get more fresh food to our communities during these hardest of times.”
Kennedy pointed out that “the Grow Your Own project would not be possible this growing season without the underwriting of a very generous and long-standing donor of Valley United Way, the Raymond P. Lavietes Foundation. For decades, Mr. Lavietes and the Foundation have been passionate about Valley United Way’s work. We are so grateful to the Foundation’s directors for their support; without them, we could not be doing the work we do.”
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| Beaver Brook garden in Ansonia. |
All volunteers are required to be in good health, wear masks, and to practice social distancing behaviors while working in any of the gardens.
This is a press release from Valley United Way.
