SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Rachel’s Table, a program of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts that helps alleviate hunger and reduce food waste in the region, has received a $75,000 commitment from Arbella Insurance Foundation over the next three years to support its Growing Gardens initiative. 

Rachel’s Table’s Growing Gardens will support any of the program’s 54 partner agencies to grow their own food in partnership with the people they serve. Rachel’s Table will officially launch the first Growing Gardens training on April 11 at Robinson Gardens in Springfield.

“The funding we received from Arbella Insurance Foundation will allow us to grow our commitment to ensuring direct access to healthy food,” said Jodi Falk, director of Rachel’s Table. “Through Growing Gardens, we also hope to help our partner agency’s constituent communities define what nourishment means to them, while building, and maintaining gardens that cultivate their sense of agency, empowerment, and physical and spiritual nourishment.”

The Growing Gardens’ trainings will be done in partnership with the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), who will help train and mentor participating agencies. Sister Anna Gilbert-Muhammad of NOFA will be lead trainer and provide expert leadership throughout the growing season for Rachel’s Table staff and liaisons who will also teach, support and mentor partner agencies in each cohort. 

The cohort for the first training includes Christina’s House, a home for women and children in transition; Robinson Gardens, a low-income housing community; CSO’s Friends of the Homeless, an on-site mental health and recovery service; and the Church of St. Andrew’s, a church community that will donate 100 percent of its harvest to those in need. 

After a two-year training period, each agency will be responsible for finding their own funding with the continued support of the network of agency-gardeners. Each year, Rachel’s Table will add a new Growing Gardens cohort of three to four agencies.

Growing Gardens is an extension of the 14-year-old Bea’s Harvest: A Gleaning Program of Rachel’s Table, which was started by former Rachel’s Table Board member Bea Loevy z”l.

To contribute to Growing Gardens, visit www.rachelstablepv.org.