The rural church grows a thumbs up under the patriotic leadership of the army

Veronica Watson, her cousin Cleshona Watson, and Justin Post, a wealthy community trustee and food coordinator, said the temperature index was above 100 degrees when choosing a community garden victory over green thumbs.

“Don’t choose anything unless it’s red on the wine,” said Veronica Watson.

The garden at McQueen Chapel United Methodist Church in Lee County has seven high beds, growing a variety of tomatoes, pumpkins, pumpkins, eggs, peppers, and more.

And that’s just the summer crop.

Next to the raised beds is a refrigerated trailer, which makes it much easier to store and transport produce. In August 2020, the trailer from the North Carolina Foundation, the Blue Cross and the Blue Shield, came to the aid of wealthy communities. There are also irrigation tanks and rain barrels.

Last year the church distributed 450 food boxes and a refrigerated trailer was needed for this effort. The church’s food program also includes about 20 miles[20 km]of farmland from the Vernika Watson Run. She says the community around her has an aging population and is delivering food parcels to the elderly and the elderly.

Victory for Green Thumbs Community Garden was launched in 2013 with the help of Duke Endowment. The grant will provide funding for three rural churches in the area, create organic gardens and provide nutrition and health education. A.D. When the money ran out in 2015, Veronica Watson sponsored the garden until wealthy communities donated $ 12,000.

Wealthy communities are under the protection of the Fund and the initiative itself is funded by Duke Endowment. Wealthy communities focus on creating rural areas, protecting the landscape, lifting people out of poverty, and respecting the unique culture of each community. This three-dimensional approach – called the “bottom line” – was created to achieve economic, environmental and social justice benefits for all.

Part of the program from wealthy communities is the successful establishment of people with disabilities. They do this by combining financial capacity with capacity building. The staff works with staff to create work plans, determine project budgets, identify support resources, and design review plans. Kathleen Marx, director of program strategies for wealthy communities, said faith-based rural community organizations are “small but powerful.”

Mark realized that at the time of the plague, churches and faith-based organizations were involved in relief efforts. They are anchor institutions – driving results in the local food economy.

Marcus, for her part, said she was grateful for Duke Endowment’s support so that wealthy communities could better identify rural organizations that support their communities’ food systems.

“They make this work possible, and they have a vision and faith with leading churches in strong local food economies,” said Marx. We are grateful to the rural churches in North Carolina that have moved in and out to serve their communities in a meaningful way, as always.

Veronica Watson knows how to take care of this garden — because she grew up on a 1-acre farm near Macwell Chapel Parking. The knowledge did not come from her. The family gathered tobacco and cotton and kept their garden side by side. She went on to study at the North Carolina Master Garden program to continue educating herself.

She also has a personal mission – one of her goals is to get veterans involved in the community garden, one of the goals of a retired army. Her hope is that the garden will help with PTSD.

The community garden has volunteers from the Church and other congregations in the county. When she was young, she asked, “What are the two things you learned in the garden today?” She likes to ask.

She wants everyone to take something from the Green Thumb Victory Garden.