Garden at HPFB educates and provides fresh produce to those in need

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - We’re half way through the Together We Can Food and Fund Drive this week.

The High Plains Food Bank serves people in the Texas Panhandle fresh produce each week through The Garden.

The Garden is an acre of land attached to the HPFB warehouse, and it’s filled with garden beds, farm animals, a water capture system and more.

Through The Garden, they are able to grow fresh, organic crops for the people in our community who need them the most.

People in our community rely on the mobile food harvest program which allows the Food Bank to distribute food to people around the Texas Panhandle three times a week.

The winter season is the best time to donate to the garden at the High Plains Food Bank as they are unable to fully produce fresh crops during the winter weather.

“With everything that we’ve seen in costs, [produce] can also be some of the most expensive things at the store [and] it’s actually one of the most beneficial things that you could use for an everyday diet,” said Zack Wilson, executive director of High Plains Food bank.

The main goal of the garden is to educate and feed people in the area.

Through the garden, they teach organizations and agencies of the Food Bank how to start projects and gardens similar to this so they can grow their own food.

The Garden even goes beyond that with classes to teach people how to cook and prepare meals in easy, affordable and healthy ways.

“Well, we believe that there’s so many reasons that gardening is beneficial. One, just basically providing your own food. We like to empower people in all areas to improve their lives. We want to meet that emergency need through the food of the food bank and we also want to give people tools, whether that be applying for SNAP benefits, or out here learning to garden. We want to give people tools to better their lives,” Justin Young, The Garden at the High Plains Food Bank.

Many people around the Texas Panhandle benefit from the garden and the mobile food harvest program.

To help, you can donate your time.

You can donate fresh produce by bringing it to The Garden located behind the HPFB facility, or donate funds this week at the Together We Can Food and Fund Drive to help support the Garden.

For more information, times, dates and locations click here.

Donate online if you cannot make it out to this years food drive.

Here you can find information about how to help the senior citizens community this year.

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