East Portland gardening group honors its volunteers

Look at how this hunger-busting outer East Portland nonprofit organization has grown, and why they were celebrating …

A teacher involved with their school programs, Carolyn Garnett, gets raffle tickets from Village Gardens Program Director Kris Soebroto, an affiliate of Outgrowing Hunger.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

An organization called Outgrowing Hunger started in 2011 as a dream of its now Executive Director Adam Kohl.

> Read about their first large garden groundbreaking in the Centennial neighborhood in 2012: CLICK HERE.

Thanks to grants, and a lot of volunteer help over the last five years, the organization has flourished, Kohl told East Portland News.

Greta Kohl helps her dad, Outgrowing Hunger Executive Director Adam Kohl, with the piñata.

“We are having a Volunteer Appreciation Party for six organizations that are doing garden work for in the greater Portland area,” Kohl remarked at the October 22 event, held at Portland Nurseries.

“In our program, we have 300 families involved – about 1,000 individual people – gardening in outer East Portland,” Kohl said. “We’re also growing, with about 5,000 elementary students every month.”

Folks from all over attend the Outgrowing Hunger fall Volunteer Appreciation Party.

Outgrowing Hunger has attracted supporters because the organization helps gardeners be able to have culturally appropriate, nutritious, and delicious fresh food, regardless of their income level, explained Kohl.

“And, it gives gardeners the opportunity to pass along feeding, growing, and cooking traditions to the next generation, so they can enjoy the healthy lifestyle that they traditionally had,” he added.

People of diverse backgrounds work in, and volunteer with, this unique organization.

The most gratifying part of the journey for him, he said, is “Watching the community really take control the projects, and really get involved. This is growing more than I could’ve ever anticipated in my wildest dreams!”

Learn more about Outgrowing Hunger, a Portland-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to participatory solutions to ending hunger, by visiting their official website: CLICK HERE.

© 2016 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News

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