- Groups are working to help the homeless in Valdosta.
- LAMP has been working with VSU's Enactus on their garden for over six years.
- Watch the video to hear from the people behind the project.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Give somebody an apple, and you feed them for a day. Teach how to garden, and you feed them for life. If you've passed by LAMP, you've probably noticed this wall of Pepsi and Sprite bottles.
I'm here to see how it's helping feed those in the shelter.
"It's hard to get fresh vegetables."
Meet Yurshema Flanders. She's the executive director of area homeless shelter LAMP. She tells me LAMP has been working with VSU's Enactus on their garden for over six years.
She also tells me the program, "uplifts the clients to actually harvest and go back in and actually prepare the things they have helped to grow."
And they've been growing quite a lot, with their menu including 8 kale plants, 4 tomato seedlings, 6+ lettuce plants, 4 pepper plants, 18 pea plants.
I checked with the Second Harvest of South Georgia.
The 26 county service area for Second Harvest of South Georgia has the highest rates in the state and among the highest rates in the nation of poverty and food insecurity.
Jeffrie Shipley, faculty advisor for LAMP, tells me that food provided shelters tend to not be the best, and that's where their garden comes in.
"Health is #1. Because we saw that most canned food is very high in sodium. It's high in whatever additives are added in it, so if we can just get them fresh food."
More than 100 VSU students have been involved in this initiative since 2017.
