Over the first half of 2024 we have been fortunate to have 168 volunteers who assisted with Cultivate Abundance efforts to grow, collect, and share food with the Immokalee, Florida farmworker community. Combined, their time of engagement added up to over 2100 hours.
We’re very proud that most of our volunteers are residents of Immokalee, some of whom show up each week to assist with the main Cultivate Abundance garden at Misión Peniel, our ministry partner.
We’re also very grateful for volunteers from outside of Immokalee, including teams from other parts of Florida as well as North Carolina, Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia.
Two Fort Myers residents who stand out in their commitment to serving the Immokalee farmworker community with Cultivate Abundance are Chris Ouimette and Sue Ayers. So far this year, they’ve each logged more than 200 hours of service. They serve a vital role by helping to coordinate the weekly harvest of fruit, vegetables, and herbs grown at the ECHO Global Farm, one of our key food-producing partners. They also help with sharing the food with our farmworker neighbors every Friday at Misión Peniel.
Following the devastation of many of our local partner gardens and farms from Hurricane Ian in 2022, Sue and Chris began helping us to engage with the ECHO team to ensure that food grown on the Global Farm does not go to waste. Due in large part to the efforts of Sue and Chris, since January 2023, ECHO has channeled almost 9,000 lbs. of fresh produce to Immokalee, amounting to over 32,000 food servings.
Thanks to Chris and Sue for their dedication and hard work!
Cultivate Abundance cannot operate without the involvement of volunteers. Please contact us at info@cultivateabundance.org if you would like to assist our team with growing, collecting, and sharing nutritious food of farmworker preference.
Comments