Marietta Corps Feeds Community
The Salvation Army of Marietta Feeds Their Community
Captains Juan and Kirbi Reyes, the Corps officers at The Salvation Army of Marietta had not met many of their neighbors living in the community directly across from the Corps until they decided to invite them to be part of the Community Garden. Now neighbors from “all walks of life” are not only learning more about the garden but also asking to learn more about how the Corps is supporting the community around them and how they can get involved.
“The whole point of being a COMMUNITY garden is to serve our Community,” said Captain Juan Reyes. “Knowing the neighbors across the street didn’t have back yards due to them being townhomes and knowing our desire to do life with our Community, the garden seemed to provide a great opportunity.”
The Salvation Army of Marietta’s goal for 2024 is to “Feed Our People.” One of the ways they do this is by providing meal boxes to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity through their food pantry. They also serve dinner two evenings per week to the children in their after-school program so they go home with full bellies and don’t have to worry about where they will get their next meal. The Tuesday evening meals are sponsored by a local church’s adult Sunday School Class. For the summer, they have partnered with the Marietta School System to provide lunch and a snack for their Day Camp Program.
In addition to these services, the expansion of the existing garden into a Community Garden has made it a true resource for the community, offering easy access to healthy, nutritious produce. “Last year, we had a few Advisory Council members that decided they wanted to make a Community Garden happen on site. With the dreams, visions, donations, and hard work from a team of our Council members and volunteers, our garden was born,” said Captain Reyes.
Craig Perry, the advisory council member who took the lead on the garden project, has been thrilled by the response. “The teamwork on this project/garden has been incredible. Volunteers showed up with their skills and expertise to make this garden a reality!” said Perry. “We are thankful for church volunteer groups who have funded and built phase two.”
Phase two includes plots that are just for the Youth programs and food pantry. One of the volunteers is a Master Gardener who is excited about teaching the youth how to care and maintain the garden. Perry shared that his next goal is to teach about healthy eating and teach healthy cooking skills. He said, “Lives can and will be changed by what happens here!”
To learn more about how you can get involved, call 770-724-1640.