Volunteers of all ages gathered to get their hands dirty in building and planting Phoenix’s newest community garden in support of Esperança.
For 21 years, the Phoenix-based nonprofit has been uniquely positioned as a leader in delivering health education and services to Arizona’s most vulnerable and underserved Latino youth, adults, and seniors.
The produce grown in this garden will go to support the organization’s existing health education classes, cooking demonstrations and meal delivery programs.
“We are so excited to expand upon our services with hand-picked fruits and vegetables right on the property!” shared Health & Wellness Program Director, Maria Valenzuela. “I am grateful to the private donor who made this dream come to fruition and all the volunteers out here today making it a reality.”
With the community’s help, Esperança will begin to harvest vegetables and fruits year-round. The nonprofit says it’s a lot more than meets the eye. One of the main initiatives the produce will support is delivering healthy meals to 200 seniors in low-income housing each week.
“For some seniors in our program, this is the only meal they have for the week. Others have disabilities that prevent them from cooking on their own. The garden will be a healthy, reliable lifeline for so many different reasons,” said Valenzuela.
Esperança is working toward its vision of health equity for everyone – one plant at a time.
For more information on how to volunteer in Esperança’s garden or cooking meals in the demo kitchen, please email Elena Gonzalez at egonzalez@esperanca.org.
