This summer, more than 70 American Red Cross volunteers and staff in New Jersey got their hands dirty while harvesting seasonal crops of eggplant and zucchini to help local community members struggling with food insecurity.

The partnership with America’s Grow-a-Row resulted in 19,500 pounds of food, equaling 78,000 servings of healthy produce. Some of this produce was delivered to the Red Cross House food cupboard that supports military families on Joint Base Mcguire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL).  

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“Being able to spend the day harvesting food for our heroic military members and their families is a beautiful thing and I’m really proud to be a part of this,” said Red Cross Youth Volunteer Haya Almahdy.

Haya and 25 other Red Crossers spent a hot summer morning in July picking ripe eggplant for community food banks. On August 17, 45 Red Crossers returned to the farm and picked A LOT of zucchini.

The mission of America’s Grow-a-Row Farm in Pittstown is to positively impact as many lives as possible through a volunteer effort of planting, picking, rescuing, and delivering free, fresh and healthy produce to those in need. Volunteer groups, like the Red Cross, help harvest crops and are then able to take some of the fresh produce with them to support their cause.

“I’m so glad to be part of this and thankful to America’s Grow-a-Row for providing Red Cross volunteers like me a chance to help so many in the community and especially those on the Joint Base,” said Gary Olivero, Red Cross Community Volunteer Liaison. “While serving the military at the food cupboard, I see the impact this makes and the appreciation shown.”

Each year the food cupboard supports military families on JBMDL, serving nearly 7,000 people a year with free, non-perishable food and certain household items. This is one of the many ways that our Service to the Armed Forces volunteers support military members and their families at our Red Cross House on JBMDL.

To learn more about Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces, visit redcross.org/SAF.