With the help of community partners and District 6900’s Community Grant, the Rotary Club of Thomasville is preparing grow bags with yellow squash plants and other vegetable seedlings for the 225 participants who will visit the club’s monthly manna drop in October.

This Rotary year marks three years since the club launched its monthly free fresh produce drops that provide fruits, vegetables, proteins, and other healthy foods to qualifying underserved households. Second Harvest of South Georgia is the club’s key partner for the free produce drops and other local entities offer financial support for the effort. At each of the club’s third Thursday’s meetings, members pack and sort fresh vegetables and fruit at the Second Harvest warehouse for the following Saturday’s market drop. At the market drop, participating households receive about 30 pounds of healthy foods—a combined total of roughly 6,750 pounds of fresh fruits, vegetables, frozen proteins, and other foods.

In Spring 2024, club members surveyed participants at the produce drops to gauge interest in growing vegetables at their homes. Overwhelmingly, participants indicated they would welcome the opportunity to grow vegetables at home. A test was held in May with a limited number of participants receiving a tomato plant in a grow bag. In the following months, the families involved in the test reported their plants were thriving and proudly shared photos.

With the success of the trial run, members started planning to launch the grow bag project  in the new Rotary year. The club submitted the project for funding by the District’s Community Grant and in September received approval for the grant. The project team then recruited experts and community partners to provide advice and assistance in growing vegetables, including UGA Extension experts who are guiding the overall effort, Thomas County Central  High Schools’ Agricultural Department whose students sourced seeds and are growing vegetable plants for the project, 4-H Club members who will assist with planting the grow bags, and others who have offered their help. Club members and our student gardeners are keeping a close watch on the fast-growing seedlings to be certain they will be ready for the October grow bag distribution. We’ll share updates about this exciting project as we continue our work to reduce food insecurity in Thomas County.