Exemplary Volunteer Award winner does her part to fight hunger

By RANDY CAPPS

If you’ve ever worked through lunch and felt your stomach rumbling at three o’clock, you have an inkling of what hunger feels like.

Now imagine that feeling for hours on end, day and night. Imagine it while sitting in a math class or trying to hold down a job.

“Pre-COVID, 12.1% of Johnston County residents lived at or below the poverty line,” Tiffany Whichard said, executive director for Harvesting Hope North Carolina and Program Administrator for Plant a Row For the Hungry Johnston County. “On average, one in six people in Johnston County are what we call food insecure, which means that they don’t necessarily know where their next meal is coming from. So, our whole objective is that we donate 100% of our organically grown produce and then we donate produce that we glean from commercial farmers to the soup kitchens, food pantries and community outreaches here locally. We service seven of those currently, and last year, we were able to contribute 6,100 pounds (of food).”

It’s that work tackling hunger and food insecurity in Johnston County that has earned Whichard the 2021 Johnston Now Honors Exemplary Volunteer Award.

Whichard and her group of 31 volunteers, ranging in age from 15 to 81, grow food on the Johnston Community College Arboretum property, and while their output has tripled in the past five years, Whichard still wants to do more.

“Our intention is to duplicate our template to other parts of the county so we can make a bigger impact on hunger,” she said. “We’re scouting for another property to have a second garden.”

She’s quick to point out that the volunteers are what makes all of Harvesting Hope North Carolina and Plant a Row For the Hungry Johnston County’s work possible.

“We’re really more like a family,” she said. “I have volunteers that have been on property for 12 years or more. We have volunteers that have never planted a seed in their entire lives. We welcome individuals, folks from offices — we have offices that pledge a day of service. Certainly churches are welcome to come. We do not require any prior experience. We’ll train them.”

Whichard’s motivation for volunteerism comes from not only a desire to fight food insecurity, but from a deeper, personal place.

“I think that everyone has had a point in their life where they have had difficulties,” she said. “I was fortunate to have friends and family step in when I did. I knew that I always wanted to give back, and my grandmother passed away at the age of 55 from a relatively rare disease. And I wanted to continue her legacy as a master gardener. So, those things just kind of came together.”

Whichard and her volunteers are finding other ways to help, too. They worked with the local chapter of Partnership for Children to identify low-income families at risk for hunger.

“We supplied them with $45 gift certificates to Lowe’s for each family,” she said. “So that they could purchase soil, pots, seeds, plants. (We) did a six-week, comprehensive program so they could learn to grow at home, no matter what their circumstances are.”

To volunteer, donate or to receive more information, visit www.harvestinghopenc.org or email plantarow@yahoo.com.