Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church

Iowa City, Iowa

We purchased land for a new building, but before we built, a brand-new project started. The fertile former farmland was a perfect site not only for a church, but for a community garden in which produce is grown for our local food banks. Experts in gardening as well as strong backs were needed for fencing, tilling the ground and creating paths. Youth as well as adults were pulled in to build raised beds. All ages help with planting, watering, weeding and harvesting. We cook and can salsa from some of our tomatoes and peppers to sell to provide seed money for the next year’s planting. Flowers have been added both to decorate our church and for free-will-donation bouquets for members to take home. We call our project “Lettuce Feed Others” and it involves all age groups in our congregation.