Stocking the fridge at Second Genesis. Photo courtesy Capital Area Food Bank

From the Ground Up

Thanks to our partnership with the Capital Area Food Bank, called From the Ground Up, every year, we distribute 40 to 50 percent of our harvest to low-income people in the Washington, D.C., area. In 2010, that came out to 36,600 pounds of produce. This included donations to the following agencies:

• Allen Chapel AME – Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church provides many different outreach ministries for their community including HIV/AIDS awareness programs, organizing community political events, prison ministry, cancer support ministry, a food bank, and providing food and clothing donations in subsidized apartment complexes.
  
  
• Bread For The City – Bread for the City provides vulnerable residents of Washington, D.C., with comprehensive services, including food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services, in an atmosphere of dignity and respect.
  
  
• Carl Vogel Center - Carl Vogel Center (CVC) is a nonprofit community-based organization that provides multidisciplinary and integrated medical healthcare that embodies all aspects of a person’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. CVC helps medically undeserved individuals to become full partners and informed advocates in managing their health.
  
  
• Damien Ministries - Damien Ministries is a faith-based nonprofit organization which helps people living with HIV/AIDS through case management, transitional housing, a food bank, and a retreat program.
  
  
• Father McKenna Center – Father McKenna Center is a center for Homeless men that seeks to improve the facilities and services available to the Homeless so that they will know that they are valued and loved; and to empower the Homeless to do more for themselves.
  
  
• Martha's Table - Martha's Table works to help at-risk children, youth, families and individuals in the D.C. community to improve their lives by providing educational programs, food, clothing, and enrichment opportunities.
  
  
• True Vine Center – The True Vine Center, Inc. is a non-profit organization offering a number of educational, social and cultural programs to youths and adults living in the immediate area of Temple Hills, Md. and those residing in its surrounding areas.
  
  
• Western Fairfax Christian Ministries – WFCM was originally founded by a coalition of 12 local churches concerned about the growing need for emergency assistance within the areas of Centreville, Clifton, Chantilly, Fair Oaks, and Fairfax Station, Va. and provides life-essential support to those seeking assistance.

Each organization has applied to become a recipient and we've chosen them because they can pick up the produce reliably, and distribute it quickly to low-income individuals who can use it. Typically the produce we donate includes some that we have harvested especially for that organization, as well as the leftover produce from the CSA pick-up the day before.