Grandview church’s missions aim to feed those in need

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Fresh fruit and vegetables are not the only things harvested from Boulevard Presbyterian Church’s garden.

Volunteers say tending to the produce and plants also cultivates a healthy community.

The idea for a garden stemmed from a survey that analyzed ways to increase involvement within the church. Since then, the project has continued to grow, says Allyson Engdahl, who has been a member of Boulevard Presbyterian for about 20 years.

“We started out doing what we thought was a good idea, but we weren’t providing the right products because we didn’t understand what was wanted,” Engdahl says. “And so we learned from that what (the community members) prefer. … It really makes sense to provide the food that people want and will eat, particularly fresh produce.”

The garden, which sits in several raised beds of soil next to the church on Northwest Boulevard in Grandview Heights, has housed everything from eggplant to zucchini since it was created about eight years ago. Work begins each year in the spring with the help of 12 to 15 volunteers, who harvest the crops and deliver them to the Near Northside Emergency Material Assistance Program (NNEMAP) food pantry through the fall.

“What we have learned over time is that other churches have gardens, and they also harvest and bring food to the pantry,” says Marlin Cheyney, who has been a member of the church for about 30 years. “What we have tried to do is carve out a different niche from that so that we are not just replicating tons of tomatoes in August.”

Volunteers have learned the types of produce families who visit the pantry prefer, and have tried to plan their planting accordingly, Cheyney says. Popular items have included cherry tomatoes and a variety of leaf vegetables, such as collard greens, Swiss chard and mustard greens.

“I could take in 20 bags of collard greens and they would be gone in 20 minutes,” Cheyney says. “We are producing (these foods), which are not really produced by the other church gardens or the other groups that bring in produce.”

Last year, fruits and vegetables grown in Boulevard Presbyterian’s garden contributed to the church’s annual total of 4,038 pounds of food donated to Columbus-area pantries.

In addition to their work in the garden, members of Boulevard Presbyterian give back to the community with other food-related missions throughout the year.

Donations of canned goods and household supplies are dropped off at the church during monthly mission collection Sundays, while a yearlong monetary donation program called “Cents-ability” encourages church members to add two cents per person per meal to the communal change jar. Boulevard Presbyterian also partners with local organizations such as the YWCA Family Center and Faith Mission to prepare and serve dinners and bag lunches to homeless men, women and children several times during the year.

Young members of the church are encouraged to participate in annual projects, such as the “Souper Bowl of Caring” donation drive, which raised more than $1,100 and collected 1,060 cans of food in February. Each year, children in the K-7 Sunday school classes make bean soup kits, which are donated to NNEMAP.

In January, the students made 118 kits, with each bag designed to feed six to eight people.

For Cheyney, who has a background in social work, becoming involved in Boulevard Presbyterian’s food missions was a no-brainer.

“I grew up in a family where this was something you did all the time. … We were always involved in some sort of mission,” she says. “It is embedded in me … and I am passionate about it. I really want it to be done right and be right for people, because there are people in need more than what you think.”

Engdahl says this message of community involvement and support resonates with many who attend the church.

“As Christians, this is what we are called to do,” she says.

She recalls a woman who received one of the community Christmas boxes – which contain food, a Kroger gift card and a gift for each child ages 17 and younger in a family – and donated toys herself several years later.

“She said, ‘Five or six years ago, you had helped me out. That was all I had for Christmas that year. That was the only gift my daughter got, and we got through it and we are in a much better place now, and I wanted to pay it back,’” says Engdahl.

Engdahl and Cheyney say these stories of continued involvement make all the hard work worthwhile.

“It is in the most surprising of ways that you cycle back into the families’ lives, and they remember things and they are reminded of things,” Cheyney says. “It keeps you going.”

Amanda Etchison is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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