The organic garden grows a variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cabbage, sweet potatoes, eggplant, and cucumbers. No insecticides or chemicals are used.
Each Tuesday, volunteers harvest, wash, and package produce before delivering it to Veterans Village, located a few blocks from the hospital. The affordable housing community serves veterans, who receive the fresh vegetables free of charge.
Every Thursday, another harvest supports a free farmers market in the hospital lobby, where patients and visitors can take fresh produce home. Patients who are discharged also receive bags of vegetables from the garden.
Colleagues Working Together
The garden’s success depends on participation from colleagues throughout the hospital. Every department takes part, with teams rotating through weekly gardening shifts that include planting, weeding, watering, harvesting, and maintaining the beds.
For many colleagues, time spent in the garden offers an opportunity to step away from daily responsibilities, enjoy the outdoors, and connect with coworkers from different departments.
Those relationships have become one of the garden’s lasting benefits. Colleagues who may never cross paths during a typical workday work side by side while supporting a project that directly benefits patients and neighbors.
The Garden of Giving reflects Jefferson’s Put People First value by helping meet an important community need and creating meaningful connections between colleagues and the people they serve.
Each harvest reflects the commitment of colleagues who dedicate their time to improving lives beyond the walls of the hospital.
From the veterans who receive fresh produce each week to the patients who leave with healthy food in hand, the garden continues to demonstrate how small acts of service can create a lasting impact throughout the community.
This story was originally published on Jefferson One.