Three days a week, cars line up by the dozens at Kitchens for Good at the Jacobs Center in Chollas View.
Drivers open their trunks to receive prepared meals and produce.
This is just one of many distribution events in high demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In recent weeks, families have also received a paper bag filled with all the ingredients needed to start their own miniature garden.
“We have created grab and grow gardens,” said Nan Sterman, who KPBS viewers might know best as the host of A Growing Passion. The local journalist and activist hopes the packages will sprout a new generation of gardeners.
“There are two seedlings in a paper bag with directions on how to grow your own fruits and vegetables in English and Spanish.”
Kitchens for Good is one of four distribution sites for grab and grow gardens.
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Sterman says the others are Olivewood Garden, Jewish Family Services, and the Botanical Community Development Initiative. Sterman relies on a network of donors to provide materials for the garden.
She’s also working with Mim Michelove, the CEO and President of Healthy Day Partners, who calls the project a labor of love.
“Right now we’re working out of my backyard and my living room and it takes quite a few hours to put together even the 130 or 150 gardens that we brought here today,” Michelove said.
The grab and grow gardens are an idea that emerged as a result of COVID-19.
Sterman says there are plans to continue the project through June, and in some form beyond the pandemic.
“An activity to do with their children, to introduce children to growing and feeding themselves, there’s a satisfaction to that, that is, it’s very hard to put into words,” Sterman said.
