How you can help

Last year was the first year of Christ Church's Gardening for God, an on-site organic vegetable garden.

Want to get involved in something "green" but don't quite know where to start? The answer is as close as Christ Church! CUMC's Gardening for God ministry needs summer volunteers to help water the garden and harvest the vegetables once they start ripening.

Here's a message from Gardening for God coordinator Emily Dykstra:

I want to thank all of you who signed up to help with the garden this summer. You do not know how much your help will make a difference in so many people's lives.


There are two ways that we need help: One is harvesting; the other is watering. We are more in need of water volunteers than harvesting volunteers, but if you would like to do both, please feel free to do so.


Harvesting is done twice a week -- Wednesday mornings at 10 and Sunday evenings at 7. Harvesting usually takes about 30 minutes and is a great time to fellowship with other church members and see the fruits of our labors. If you decide this is how you want to help, all you have to do is sign up for one of the harvesting days and show up with a bucket and pick ripe vegetables. We have two volunteers who will be delivering the vegetables to people who need them.


If you want to water, all you need to do is sign up for one week this summer and go to the garden twice that week to water. We need volunteers to water from May through September. Only two weeks have been taken for this summer, and they are the weeks of June 6th and June 27th. The sooner you sign up for your week, the better chance you have of getting the week you want.


This Sunday at 2:00 pm (April 25th) we will finish planting the last of the seeds in the garden and will have sign-up sheets for harvesting and watering. At this time I will also do a run through of how to water the garden and show you where the hoses are. If you want to water this summer, please make every effort to attend this meeting. I will also have another watering demonstration next Sunday at 4:00 on May 2nd for those who cannot make it this Sunday.
Hope to see you all Sunday. Earth Week is this week, and WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

If you're interested in helping out or just want to learn more, stop by the Gardening for God info table in the atrium at tonight's church dinner, or call Emily at 933-4440. What a great way to celebrate Earth Week - by serving God, meeting new Christian friends, and learning a little about gardening!