Extra garden bounty can be donated to local food pantries

Does your garden give you more produce than you know what to do with? Many gardeners face the wonderful problem of too much bounty from their gardens—and no one wants to see good produce go to waste. Nebraska Extension’s CHOW program (Cultivating Health Our Way) has a solution.

Nebraska Extension’s CHOW program and the Ever Green House in Gering have partnered to supply fresh produce to food pantries operated by Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska and First Baptist Church. Vegetables are grown at the Ever Green House with the help of volunteers, Extension Master Gardeners, and the SNAP-Ed program of Scotts Bluff and Morrill Counties, then delivered to the food pantries.

Now the partnership is inviting area gardeners to join in by dropping off quality produce that exceeds what they can use each week at the Ever Green House in Gering and First Baptist Church in Scottsbluff.

“Sometimes produce is difficult for food pantries to get because of the shorter shelf life and difficulty of transporting it from major food banks,” said Erin Kampbell, SNAP-Ed Assistant at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. “By providing locally grown produce to food pantries, the community can help families who are going through a tough time maintain important access to nutrient dense foods.”

The opportunity to donate abundant produce is great for gardeners, too. Dropping off extras at the Ever Green House and First Baptist Church is a way to make sure quality produce that might otherwise spoil or get thrown away is used and enjoyed.

Produce of good quality can be delivered to the following locations:

Ever Green House at Overland Trail Road and D Street in Gering any time, Monday through Friday.

First Baptist Church, 3009 Avenue I in Scottsbluff on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. Enter the kitchen door (the door on the east end of the north parking lot). Items can be placed on the counter.