The Little Kitchen Food Shelf is on the leading edge of a statewide movement towards making healthier emergency food available to needy clients. Grace Gardens (our food shelf garden) produces more than 500 pounds of vegetables and herbs each season. The gardens are located just a few steps to the south past the parking area near the Little Kitchen Food Shelf entrance.

Grace Gardens started in 2011 thanks to the efforts of volunteers and guidance from Diane James and A Backyard Farm. We started with two 4 x 8 ft. raised beds. In our first year we produced over 150 pounds of very fresh herbs, veggies and greens for our food shelf guests. Four more raised beds and trellises were added in 2012.

If you’d like to join the volunteer team keeping the gardens weeded and happy, please contact our building director, Lorrie Stromme, at lorrie@gracectr.org.

Keeping Donated Produce Fresh

The abundant produce grown on-site in Grace Gardens, donated by neighbors, and the Garden Gleaning Project is kept fresh in a walk-in fridge. The walk-in fridge was made possible through a $7,000 United Way grant awarded to The Little Kitchen Food Shelf in 2013.

More than 3,000 pounds of produce is donated to the food shelf during the growing season each year. The walk-in fridge makes it possible to keep our donated produce fresher longer and offer healthy food options to Little Kitchen Food Shelf visitors.