Lewis has been gardening with The GardenWorks Project for three years at Bridge Communities as part of the organization's Home Gardening Program, which has built 525 home gardens and improved access to fresh produce for 2,094 individuals since 2012.

The GardenWorks Project's newest garden at Downers Grove FISH Pantry improves access to fresh produce by supplementing what the volunteers rescue from local grocery stores and order from Northern Illinois Food Bank.

One of GardenWorks’ earliest community partners is the College of DuPage. As an educational institution in the heart of DuPage County, COD provides a broad range of programs including degree programs in Horticulture and Sustainable Urban Agriculture. In 2017, GardenWorks installed 5 raised bed gardens as part of its Community Garden Support program. GardenWorks Project also serves on the College’s Horticulture Advisory Committee and has partnered with the Horticulture, Culinary Arts, and the Homeland Security Education Center programs for the 2018 and 2019 Harvest Against Hunger fundraisers. 

2020 seemed like an impossible year to face at times. COVID-19 took loved ones, livelihoods, and the sense of stability away from countless individuals.

If you’re a gardener, you can relate to the feeling of the season dwindling down. There’s grief at the end of a season all around us, as we put away our tools, and watch our plants return to the ground.

Harvest against Hunger, our annual fall fundraiser, has been forced to shift like many events this year. Our staff and taskforce members have committed to keeping the theme true to previous years, prioritizing The GardenWorks Project’s mission to promote the local food system as a viable means towards sustainability and greater food security.

The “eat local” movement continues to gain momentum, especially since COVID-19. At The GardenWorks Project, we believe that everyone deserves fresh produce.

For its third year, The GardenWorks Project is taking Harvest Against Hunger virtual.

This week is National Farmers Market Week! 

By Hayley Anderson

The last few months in America have been an unprecedented time of considering health. Social distancing measures have been put in place to protect the physical health of citizens, but have created a crisis of mental health instead.

According to Feeding America, the country’s largest hunger relief organization, 20% of the 40 million people served by its 200 food banks and their networks are veterans.