TrueNorth has promoted its Plant a Row for Hunger campaign for many years now. We encourage local farmers and gardeners to donate any extra produce they have and ideally plant an extra row with the express intent of donating it to a local food pantry like the one at TrueNorth. Long-time Fremont resident and hobby gardener Tom Boltz took it one giant step further and planted an entire acre with three varieties of squash to help prevent hunger.
Having been a past recipient of help from Mobile Food Pantries from Feeding America West Michigan, Tom knows how important fresh produce is to people in need and wanted to give back to a community that has been good to him. Along with members of a friend group who call themselves “The Lunch Bunch,” he hatched his plan. Tom is quick to point out that, although the acre of land set aside was his, there were many contributions from others in the group. Other support included a tractor for tilling the land, donations of seeds, financial donations, and lots of boots on the ground and hands in the dirt planting and harvesting. When the dust had settled at harvest time, approximately 7,000 pounds of squash were donated to the TrueNorth Food Pantry.
While this is the first time the 75-year old Boltz has deliberately planted extra produce, he says it won’t be his last. Tom shared that “We already have plans for a larger garden next season with a greater variety of produce.”