Fee Starts ‘Feed Your Neighbor’ Food Program

Whoever said one person can’t make a difference. Untrue, because one little girl is doing just that. Grace Fee is a nine year old little girl that is a fourth grader at Franklin Monroe Elementary and attends EUM Church in Greenville. She asked for a garden back in the spring for her birthday. “I learned in Science class the value of our earth and natural habitats and in Math class we grew a mock garden and then sold our produce at the end of the year” says Grace Fee. “It got me excited about the possibilities for my own garden.”

With help from her parents and grandpa, Fee has successfully tilled, planted, weeded, watered and harvested produce from her garden. “It turned out a lot better than I thought it would for the first year. All of my plants are huge and so are the vegetables from it. I must have really good soil” indicates Fee.

Because of the abundance from her garden, Grace and her family were giving vegetables and herbs away to friends and trading with other neighbors. Grace’s mother, Kristin Fee remembers “One afternoon Grace came to me and said that the people we were giving food to and trading with could afford to buy produce at the grocery, but there are people out there that don’t get the opportunity to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.” EUM Church serves children lunch through a Summer Food Program on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. “We help prepare and serve the meals on Wednesday, so Grace knows there is need in our community” states Kristin.

Grace decided from that moment on the abundance from her garden would go to local food pantries so that people in need could enjoy fresh produce they might not otherwise get. The Feed Your Neighbor food program was born just like that. Grace wants to encourage others in the community to join with her in feeding our neighbors. Anyone wishing to donate their ‘abundance’ produce can drop it off at two locations, Storch Braund Funeral Home, 215 East Washington, New Madison or at her home 4857 South State Route 49, Greenville. “We will have bins placed outside at both locations on Monday and Thursdays and deliver the produce to the food pantries the next day” shares Grace.

The Feed Your Neighbor food program will be partnering with Hope In The Darke Food Pantry and FISH. They will be accepting produce as long as the gardens are providing them. Fee also stated that food pantries are unusually low this time of year because of the economic situation facing Darke County and will be accepting all other donations in addition to fresh produce.