The O’Fallon Garden Club donated 5,300 pounds of fresh produce to the Metro East town’s local food pantry last year — earning the group its second consecutive national award for the most fruit and veggies given to a food bank.
St. Louis-based nonprofit National Garden Club recently bestowed the per capita award to the O’Fallon club. The honor showcases the group’s commitment to providing fresh and nutritious food to the community to alleviate hunger, organizers said.
“When you get a group of like-minded volunteers together that want to share their love of gardening — and they want to help out the community too — it’s amazing what you can do,” said Sarah Lambaria, president of the garden club.
The Metro East garden had a “banner year” in 2023, volunteers said. A new irrigation system, installed by club Treasurer Bob Winkler, was a big help, they added.
So far this year, the O’Fallon garden has donated 3,700 pounds. Since 2012, the volunteers have grown 41,500 pounds of produce that ended up at the O’Fallon Community Food Pantry.
Even though O’Fallon, a town of more than 32,000 people as of 2020, is generally considered to be a more affluent community, about 4.2% of families and 3.3% of the total population live under the poverty line, according to the latest census.
“I think people think O’Fallon doesn’t have people with needs — and that’s just not true,” said Joyce Hillebrand, who helps run operations at the garden. “We’re just helping others in our community, which is so important.”
Pantry directors Patty and Larry Strube said the food bank serves about 300 families every month. Many of the clients tend to be elderly residents living on fixed incomes, single mothers with families and folks working a low-paying job that have an unexpected expense, they said.
For much of the year, the pantry relies on canned vegetables and fruit. Having fresh produce over the summer from the garden club provides community members in need with extra nutritious options, the Strubes said.
“It’s volunteers in our community who have seen a need, and they just get to it,” Larry Strube said. “It’s not because they’re getting any money. They’re not doing it for notoriety. They’re doing it because it’s something that they feel passionate about.”
Strube estimates about 80% of the fresh produce the food bank gets over the summer comes from the garden.
Describing the garden’s production as a “juggernaut,” Strube said there are still moments when he’s shocked by the quantity the club delivers. The award is well deserved, he said.
“When clients come in here and see fresh produce — and they know that someone in this city grew that produce and put it here — I think it makes them feel like they're not forgotten,” Strube said.
In addition to the pantry garden, the club has 31 individual garden beds where anyone in the community can grow their own plants. The group also has an apiary for bees.
About 120 volunteer gardeners grow 27 different fruits and veggies for the pantry — including green beans, carrots, cucumbers, leafy greens, onions, peppers and tomatoes, among others.
“By supplying fresh produce, that is delicious, we’re helping those individuals with their nutrition levels,” said Candice Meyler, a garden club member. “We’re just thrilled to be able to do that.”
