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Health & Fitness

St. Anne Community Garden: Feeding our Neighbors and Having Fun!

Check out an awesome community garden, and join us for some gardening fun!

You have probably driven past the Church of St. Anne on Dixie Highway in Hazel Crest. But did you know that at the end of the parking lot there is a bountiful, 22-bed community garden that produces about 2,000 pounds of produce every year? And most of that fresh, nutritious food is given away to needy families right in our community.

In 2010, the Dunlavy family of Homewood thought it would be fun to turn an unused grassy area at the church into a garden. They started with six beds and grew some tomatoes and peppers. Well, because the Dunlavys are very hard workers with green thumbs, the garden grew every year. Now, they have a 600-square-foot garden that produces tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, strawberries, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, beets, cabbage, broccoli, radishes, pumpkins, basil, lavender and flowers  -- phew!

As the garden evolved, more people became aware of it and started visiting. Sometimes they would take food they needed, or just admire the beautiful harvest. Occasionally, visitors would leave something behind, like those who anonymously donated a bench and an angel statue. People wanted to volunteer. The garden became a powerful way to engage and give back to the neighborhood.

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Every Monday night, the Church of Anne hosts a free hot dinner for about 100 needy families in our community. Food from the garden is used to prepare the meals, and is also given away to dinner guests as they leave. Whatever is left over is donated to a local food pantry.

“The garden has been a gift to our family – it has allowed us to meet lots of wonderful people and learn about working together and serving others,” says Colleen Dunlavy, who started the garden with her five children.

Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If you would like to get involved, we are having spring planting days on April 27 and May 11. Please comment here if you would like to help. We work hard and have a lot of fun too!

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