Man Transforms Traffic Island Into Garden To Grow 7,000 Pounds Of Food For The Homeless
Oct 29, 2020 by apost team
In a day and age where it seems like compassion is lacking, this story about a man turning a traffic island into a garden in 2015 to help feed the homeless is absolutely heartwarming. John Fallon of Beverly, Massachusetts has raised over 7,000 pounds of produce to give away to homeless shelters this year alone!
Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video :-)
Fallon learned how to farm from his father, also named John. He has been planting and harvesting his own personal garden for years and he gave excess produce to any of his neighbors in need.
One day, John noticed the traffic island and began to think of its potential as a place to grow produce to donate to the homeless. “I was looking at it one day at three in the afternoon,” John told ABC News outlet WCVB, as reported by TEN15AM. “It was full sun and I thought, ‘Wow, this is perfect.’” If he only knew just how right he was!
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John got in touch with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to ask permission to plant a garden on the property. He made sure to include that he was not going to make any money off of it—and instead, the proceeds and produce were all going to charity. How could anyone say 'no' to that?
John was granted permission to start his garden and he immediately got to work. It has since been five years. In his first year, he was able to donate over 3,500 pounds of produce to local food banks and homeless shelters. This year, he has over 1,000 plants and donated nearly double the amount of food.
Aptly named Beverly Farms Garden, the traffic island turned food producer relies on the help of volunteers. Sometimes college students will even come in to help pick weeds. John is a retired engineer and a big supporter of organic gardening.
He hopes to turn Beverly Farms Garden into a classroom for students interested in environmental sciences, biology, and agriculture.
As reported by TEN15AM, John says that growing the entire population's food source in one area such as all the corn in the Midwest, is a bad idea. It's simply much better to have many gardens all over the country using each region's natural resources. He adds that it is easy to start up a garden like his in many areas.
John is currently trying to build a greenhouse and irrigation system for Beverly Farms Garden so that he can seed his own plants for the following season. In the long run, this will help him cut costs on both the environment and his own wallet. He needs the help of his community to get this done, though.
If you were inspired by John's video, let us know your thoughts. Pass it on to all of your humanitarian friends and family. Who knows, if we all work together, maybe we can make a huge difference in eliminating hunger in our country.