Hy-Vee gives second $1,000 grant to New Opps community garden

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Celebrating the second year of Hy-Vee One Step grant funding for the New Opportunities community garden Saturday were, from left, Hy-Vee master gardener Jerry Kluver, New Opportunities Director Mary Greving, Perry Hy-Vee Store Director Matt Rohe and Perry Hy-Vee Community Engagement Coordinator Larry Vodenik.

Planning for this year’s New Opportunities community garden started in February with a lunch meeting attended by, clockwise from left, New Opportunities Assistant Director Brandi Valdez, ISU Extension and Outreach Family Specialist Rosa Gonzalez, Dallas County Hospital Public Relations Manager Macinzie McFarland, Dallas County Hospital Foundation Director Matt Crooks, Perry Hy-Vee Store Director Matt Rohe, Perry Hy-Vee Community Engagement Coordinator Larry Vodenik, Children and Families of Iowa Coordinator April Wyett and New Opportunities Director Mary Greving.

For the second year running, the New Opportunities community garden in Perry has received a $1,000 grant from Hy-Vee Inc. The grant comes from the sale of Hy-Vee’s One Step Potatoes, which all go to fund local community gardens.

Also as in past years, the New Opportunities community garden needs volunteers to help water and weed and make the Hy-Vee grant dollars yield fresh produce for people in the Perry area.

The produce raised in the New Opportunities community garden is donated to the Perry Food Pantry. The garden itself was founded in 2015 on land donated by Crossroads Church in Perry and developed with materials and labor from many local individuals and businesses.

In order to get more people involved in the community garden, Jerry Kluver, a master gardener from Hy-Vee’s Urbandale store, led a free program Saturday on container gardening.

Kluver’s engaging style of teaching, in both English and Spanish, seemed to delight the audience who attended the afternoon lecture at Crossroads Church, 2814 First Ave. in Perry.

New Opportunities Director Mary Greving was on hand to accept the second $1,000 grant from Perry Hy-Vee Store Director Matt Rohe and Perry Hy-Vee Community Engagement Coordinator Larry Vodenik.

The garden takes its name from the New Opportunities Dallas County Family Development Center, which shares space at Crossroads Church on Perry’s north side. New Opportunities is best known in Perry and Dallas County for operating the Perry Food Pantry.

The garden started with an $1,125 grant from United Way that paid for fencing. Rainbow International in Perry bought the lumber for the beds, and Karen Mertz of Perry provided the Mulch Mart dirt.

“The garden went from a dream project to having produce sprouting its first year,” said Vodenik, a volunteer at the New Opportunities garden since 2015. “There were no funds for this project, so everything has come from donations of cash, materials and time.”

Building the garden itself was the hard part, Vodenik said, “and now we are looking for a few volunteers to help water and weed for one or two hours a week. We still have a few items on our wish list, so cash donations would be appreciated as well, but what we would like is to get the word out to our community about this great program for Perry’s families in need.”

Along with providing fresh produce for the Perry Food Pantry, New Opportunities offers a wide variety of programs, including Head Start and Early Head Start, addiction prevention and treatment and other health services, WIC and food pantry, heating and weatherization services and many others. Many of their clients are elderly. Virtually all are low-income residents of Dallas County.

To volunteer for the New Opportunities community garden, call Larry at 515-465-5321. For more information about other New Opportunities programs, call 515-465-5995.

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