Some local seniors recently received locally grown fresh produce as part of a “Vegetable for Seniors Day,” sponsored by Queens Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley.
Every year, community gardeners grow a surplus of vegetables, fruits and herbs that they throw away, but this year the gardeners donated the produce to local senior citizens.
“I believe ‘Vegetables for Seniors’ is a community initiative we hope to continue throughout the growing season,” Crowley said. “It’s a great way for community members to give back to our seniors, who are on fixed income, and to encourage the production of locally grown food. I am proud that our community is finding ways to come together, to limit the amount of waste we produce and to improve our neighborhood’s quality of life.”
More than a dozen gardeners from Middle Village joined with representatives from Key Foods on 63rd Drive, Florist Hills on Woodhaven Boulevard and C-Town on Metropolitan Avenue to present the produce to seniors. Gardeners donated tomatoes, green peppers, Italian frying peppers, eggplants, leeks, peaches, apples, cantaloupes, watermelons, bananas and various spices such as basil, thyme and parsley.
“I came up with the idea for giving away the vegetables I could not use to those who could use it, those on fixed incomes: the senior citizens of my neighborhood,” said Dave Shapiro, one of the key organizers of Vegetables for Seniors. “I found that other vegetable growers in the neighborhood liked the idea too.”
Crowley and local gardeners hope to continue Vegetables for Seniors throughout the harvest season, which is usually through October. The next Vegetables for Seniors Day is scheduled for September 14, and they hope to recruit local gardeners from other areas throughout Queens to participate in the day.
