Shawano County gardeners can once again show their generosity as the hunger prevention program Share the Bounty gets into full swing this growing season.
According to program founder Winnie Preston, it’s a win-win for everyone involved.
“Most people who garden know that you usually have more (produce) than you can use, and there is nothing worse than seeing it go to waste,” Preston said. “This program allows them to share the extra that they have with people that don’t have access to fresh produce.”
Share the Bounty collects excess produce grown by area gardeners at drop-off sites located throughout Shawano County, and then distributes the produce to anyone who can use it, at no cost.
Nancy Schultz, a family living coordinator for the University of Wisconsin-Extension who joined Share the Bounty last year, said on average the program collects more than 5,000 pounds of produce each year.
“One year in Wittenberg we had a guy drop off 50 10-pound bags of potatoes, and by the time we left that day they were all gone,” Schultz said. “It is just a phenomenal program.”
The program was brought to Shawano County in 2002 after Preston, a nutrition educator, attended a UW-Extension training session where representatives from different counties shared ideas of programs they were running.
“The gal who had the same job that I did … from Pierce County explained the program and what it was like and what was involved,” Preston said. “I just thought it was an amazing idea and we could do it in Shawano.”
Schultz said the response to Share the Bounty has been fantastic. Five organizations have drop-off sites—three in Shawano and one each in Wittenberg and Cecil—and are helping to expand the program across the county. The organizations are Shawano Food Pantry & Resource Center (SAFPARC), Lutheran Counseling & Family Services Thrift Store, Goodwill Industries, St. Martin’s Catholic Church and the Wittenberg Community Center.
“These five organizations help us in making it happen,” Schultz said.
The program also has grown through the community gardens, which allow people who do not have space to garden an opportunity to rent plots to grow produce.
“It’s a wonderful way for people who don’t have garden space to garden,” Preston said.
Since Preston retired two years ago, a Board of Gardeners has formed that helps organize and run the community gardens as part of Share the Bounty.
“The board is great,” Preston said. “They are the wind beneath the wings of the garden. They are committed and they are going to make it work.”
Share the Bounty runs from July through October.
“The people receiving it are ecstatic because it helps them feed their family, they are getting nutritious food and it extends their budget,” Preston said.
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