Stories From Main Street: Bergen County Church Grows Food For The Needy
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A Bergen County church is digging deep to help feed the less fortunate.
In Upper Saddle River, N.J., the Church of the Presentation is trying to grow food to help the needy.
"Wouldn't it be neat for us to have a community garden where we could grow produce that then could be distributed through food pantries and soup kitchens?" explained parishioner Kay Furlani.
The food they grow is distributed to folks in Newark and Harlem, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported. The vegetables are grown in garden beds behind the church. They've grown zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squash, parsley, basil, thyme, oregano and potatoes.
Stories From Main Street: Presentation Parish Grows Food For Needy
Rev. Msgr. Ed Ciuba told Adams there's an environmental lesson to be learned.
"That the Earth is sacred. That there's something of value in the Earth itself. In the waters, in the air that we breathe," Ciuba told Adams. "To teach our children that a pizza pie just doesn't come from an oven, but its ingredients come from the Earth."
There are other more spiritual lessons to be learned.
"We're also one with the Earth. The Earth and us are not separate," Kate Barry told Adams. "We are totally dependent on the Earth. The Earth can get along very well without us."
"Especially all the people who work in the soup kitchens, they're going to be especially enamored of the idea that we're going to have fresh produce for the poor," Gloria Tavas said.
