"We GROW for the Pharmacy"

"We GROW for the Pharmacy" - how it works

Hello Neighbors - Happy New Year to you all!

Our support for the Samaritan House Food Pharmacy is going strong in 2020. Very thankful for our mild winters and the generosity of so many local gardeners in the surrounding San Mateo area. In case you're new to the program and/or considering participating, here's a quick description of how the program works:

For community gardens, produce donations are placed into a donation box provided by GROW San Mateo. The box is made of redwood and is designed to blend in as much as possible to the garden environment. Here's a photo of the donation box in the Beresford Park Community Garden:

After placing the donation in the box, the gardener sends a text message to GROW San Mateo to alert that a pickup is ready.

While the box does provide some shelter for produce, the goal is to quickly retrieve donations and add them to the local display in the Food Pharmacy.

Donations are then prep'd for display, in this example a "sunchoke" sign was created to explain nutritional benefits and provide a quick recipe. Shortly after harvest, produce donations are made available to Food Pharmacy clients at the 39th Ave. clinic.

Individual gardener donations are also greatly appreciated. Please contact Bill S. (bill@growsanmateo.org) to schedule a pickup.

Thank you for your interest and support in the We GROW for the Pharmacy project.

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