AmpleHarvest.org campaign
From: Gary Oppenheimer, ,Master Gardener AmpleHarvest.org Founder, Rutgers Environmental Steward gary@AmpleHarvest.org 973-409-4093
AmpleHarvest.org’s goal is to diminish hunger in America by enabling backyard gardeners around the country to find neighborhood food pantries eager for their excess garden produce – more important than ever because one out of eight Americans is food insecure. Due to the AmpleHarvest.org design, it is not only helpful to gardeners looking for a local food pantry, it can also be used by the pantries themselves to list those store bought items they are most in need of – making the site of value to gardeners off season as well as those who don’t garden at all too.
The campaign has been endorsed by the USDA, Google Inc., VFW, YMCA, Garden Writers of America, food/hunger bloggers, numerous faith groups etc. A sampling of some of the enthusiast feedback is available at www.AmpleHarvest.org/feedback.php.
For the past two months, a major effort to register food pantries around the country has been underway. Nearly one out of every 50 food pantries in America have registered and more are signing up every day.
However we are now starting to shift our focus to informing America’s backyard gardeners about AmpleHarvest.org, and very much need the assistance of your Master Gardeners to help spread the word. There are several ways they can do that. They can:
- share the information with other Master Gardeners
- inform gardeners who call in to the Help Lines
- tell garden clubs and community gardens in their communities about the AmpleHarvest.org campaign
- ask their local nursery, garden store, and lawn/garden section of their local big box store permission to post the attached document (also available at www.ampleharvest.org/downloads/GardenShop.pdf ) by the cashier or in another conspicuous area. It can also be posted on library and supermarket bulletin boards.
Of course if the Master Gardener knows of a food pantry in their community, they are also encouraged to urge the pantry to register itself on AmpleHarvest.org.
We are available to answer any questions your Master Gardeners may have about the campaign – they can email info@AmpleHarvest.org or they can visit the site where additional valuable information about AmpleHarvest.org is available.
We would very much appreciate it if you would forward this message to all of the Master Gardeners in your program as soon as possible.
Although the economy is bad, AmpleHarvest.org helps people support their local food pantry by enabling them to reach into their backyard instead of their back pocket.
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