PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GARDENING WITH A CAUSE THIS SEASON:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center Partners with Fresh Food Connect
to Engage Home Gardeners in Food Insecurity Relief
NEWPORT, RI
(August 16, 2021): The
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (MLK Community Center), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to nourishing, educating, and supporting residents of Newport County, Rhode Island to improve their economic, social, and physical well-being, has become one of 50 nonprofits around the country to utilize the
Fresh Food Connect mobile app. The app directs home and community gardeners to donate their surplus fresh grown produce to local hunger relief efforts.
Fresh Food Connect’s mobile app coordinates donations from home and community gardeners with local non-profit organizations working to address food insecurity on a local level. Gardeners download the app, and are prompted to indicate if they have surplus bounty to share. In zip codes across the country, home gardeners can easily arrange for extra produce to be picked up from their doorstep, or arrange a time to deliver to an organization providing solutions to food insecurity locally.
“We are thrilled to partner with organizations across the country that support community members facing food insecurity. We know that gardeners are some of the most generous people around, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to engage them in the critical hunger relief efforts happening in their local communities,” said Kayla Birdsong, CEO of Fresh Food Connect. “If you are a gardener, just download the free app and you will be connected to an inspiring organization in your community.”
“Last year we provided 50,000 pounds of fresh produce to our community. This year, we are distributing fresh produce every day of our week and expect to provide double that amount, or more,” said
Heather Hole Strout,
Executive Director of the
MLK Community Center. “We offer produce year-round: high-quality, often local and organic fresh fruit, vegetables, and often even flowers and herbs through our on-site food pantry, Food 2 Friends pantry delivery service, Mobile Food Pantry, and our twice-weekly free produce distribution, Produce to the People. The demand for high-quality produce has never been greater. Fresh Food Connect’s convenient mobile app connects us with both our gardener and volunteer community in new and convenient ways,” she continued. “The MLK is committed to sustaining programs that provide hunger relief while promoting health, and to innovating how we serve our community: we’re thankful to Fresh Food Connect for helping us do both of these things.”
Fresh Food Connect has exciting plans for the 2021 growing season and is actively recruiting gardeners to share their home-grown garden surplus with local hunger relief centers. You can learn more about becoming a gardener and sign up
here.
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About Fresh Food Connect:
Fresh Food Connect currently operates with local nonprofits across twenty states. As gardeners plant their vegetable beds, they can plant an extra row knowing that their bounty can be directed to those who need it most with Fresh Food Connect.
About the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center:
Founded in 1922 and renamed after Dr. King in 1968, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization whose mission is to nourish, educate, and support Newport County families, children, individuals, and seniors to improve their economic, social, and physical well-being. Programs encompass three areas: Hunger Prevention and Nutrition, Early Childhood and Extended Learning Time Education, and Community Support Programs.
Only 2.8% of the Center’s total public support derives from municipal, state, or federal government funding sources. In 2020, the MLK served 4,998 people, 15% more than in 2019 and the most in its history.
20 Dr. Marcus Wheatland Blvd, Newport, RI 02840; Phone: (401) 846-4828; Fax: (401) 848-7360; MLKCCenter.org
