CHCA Eagle's Eye 2014

Dynamically engaged
Watch How Our Garden Grows...
by Alex O’Brien ‘17
Quite simply, the
CHCA Sustainable
Garden by its very
nature, will be able
to provide fresh fruits
and vegetables to
families that cannot
afford to put these
‘luxuries’ on their
kitchen table.
The summer was hot, and the college visits were being piled on. The day was a couple of years
ago; we were on a college visit at Yale for my brother, Michael. We took a tour around campus,
appreciating the charm that always comes with college grounds. While we walked around the
dorms, I saw an organic garden the students created to help sustain themselves and neighbors in
need around them. Because my family has always been one to garden, the idea of having a garden at
our own home sprung into my head. Once our small domestic garden started flourishing, I thought
it would be amazing if we could expand it somewhere. Eventually, that somewhere would turn out to
be CHCA.
I approached Mr. Brunk about my organic garden idea during the spring of my 8th grade year, and
the planning stage subsequently followed his approval and plot selection for the garden. From the
Fall through this Spring, family and friends at CHCA helped to make this garden a reality. Hauling
planks, building beds and planting seeds became several weekend’s worth of labor and love.
According to 2007 U.S. Census data, Cincinnati is the tenth poorest city in the country with a
poverty rate of 23.5%, compared to a national (and Ohio-wide) poverty rate of 12.5%. That means
that approximately one in four Cincinnatians falls below the poverty line, and our city’s poverty rate
is almost twice the national average. Our main goal is to grow as much produce as we can. Once the
produce is harvested, we will donate it to these people in need within our city.
The plan is for the food to be donated through the
Freestore Foodbank, an organization in downtown
Cincinnati that distributes canned and organically
grown food to the poor in the local tri-state area. After
a “chance” introduction at the 5K Hunger Walk in
downtown Cincinnati, I recently met with Freestore
Foodbank’s CEO, Kurt Reiber. He shared with us,
“Since our founding 43 years ago, the types of food
that we distribute to our neighbors in need has taken a
dramatic shift. Previously, we provided canned goods
and boxed goods to our customers - what we would call
“shelf stable food items’. Today, we are distributing fresh fruits and vegetables along with frozen
meats and cut meats - food items that would be considered “highly perishable”. We began our own
8