If you were to stop by the Bethesda Community Food pantry any Tuesday or Wednesday in August and September, you would be surprised by the tables of colorful produce. Red and orange tomatoes, green cucumbers, bell peppers in all colors, curly kale, whatever happens to be garden-ready.

Amazingly, it would all be gone in a couple of days.

Now imagine your grocery cart – also empty – as you pass the produce aisle because your budget doesn’t stretch to buy cucumbers, apples, and peppers that cost more than $1 apiece. Given the high cost of fresh produce, it’s no wonder that food pantry patrons eagerly pick up whatever fresh foods are available at the pantry.

Bethesda is among nine Story County food pantries receiving locally grown fruit and vegetables weekly from the Grow & Give program (formerly Plant a Row for the Hungry). Grow & Give is coordinated by horticulture staff at Reiman Gardens. But the heart of the program lies in the hands of our dedicated volunteers-they run the program, grow and donate produce from their home gardens, pick up produce from vendors at the end of the Saturday farmers market in Ames, weigh, sort, box, and distribute produce to area food pantries. Their commitment is what makes this program a success.

The beauty of this program is that no food goes to waste. Every gardener knows the scenario – it’s always feast or famine with home gardens. What to do with all the extra summer squash? Sweet corn that’s ready at the same time? Tomatoes that keep on producing?

Take it to Grow & Give! During the growing season (roughly mid-June until hard frost in October), gardeners can drop off extra produce every Monday morning 

between 7:30 and 9 a.m. at the Reiman Gardens parking lot.

This drop-off is for anyone who has extra produce – from backyard growers who may have a sack of cucumbers to growers with huge gardens and a truckload of product. The donated produce is combined with what’s harvested at Reiman’s food gardens each week, plus what was collected at the Ames farmers market. Then, all is weighed, sorted, boxed, and delivered to four food pantries in Ames, plus Huxley, Boone, Nevada, and Cambridge. Even out-of-condition vegetables feed animals at Blank Park Zoo, tortoises at an Ames rehab center, and Reiman Gardens butterflies.

The numbers are great, but the need is greater. It's the collective effort of our community that can truly make a difference. Your involvement, no matter how small, can have a significant impact on those in need.

During the 2024 growing season, Grow & Give distributed 18,245 pounds – more than 9 tons – of fresh produce to food pantries. This was enough to provide nutritious meals for hundreds of families in our community. No matter how much was donated each week, food pantries said the fresh food quickly disappeared from their shelves, a testament to the high demand for fresh produce. Your contribution can help us meet this demand. In one week, Grow & Give received 30 crates of beautiful green, red, yellow, and orange peppers from research trials at the ISU Horticulture Station east of Gilbert. During peak tomato season, each pantry might receive several boxes of tomatoes.

As you plan your garden for 2025, consider adding a row for Grow & Give. Out of God’s abundance – rainfall, sunshine and good soil – comes a bounty meant to be shared. Join us in this community effort to fight food insecurity. Your contribution, no matter how small, can make a big difference.