School helps food bank with produce donation

America's Second Harvest had a need for fresh vegetables. Learning Gate Community School had the bounty.

The two connected last month when Learning Gate harvested 85 pounds of produce and donated it to the Tampa-based food bank, along with 313 pounds of dry goods it collected and two dozen fresh eggs from chickens the school keeps.

Students from the Lutz charter school cleared out most of its winter crop, including onions, cherry tomatoes and green beans. The children also gathered greens - arugula, mustard and different types of lettuce.

Learning Gate incorporates an environmental theme into its lessons and uses its organic garden to teach children about science as well as math and measurements. Compost enriches the soil and water collected in rain barrels helps irrigate it.

Kindergartners through sixth-graders manage the garden with facilitators Cissy Stanko and Christine Miller. It has grown so well that Learning Gate alone couldn't eat enough to keep up.

Teachers had distributed some fruits and vegetables among their classes, Stanko said, and occasionally the school's chef would toss a giant salad to feed everyone. But now the school plans to donate the garden's surplus regularly to America's Second Harvest.

America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay serves 10 counties and partners with 700 charities and churches that offer feeding programs. The organization receives donations and distributes them to its partners based on need, said Marc Sutherland, resource development director.

Sutherland toured Learning Gate last month and talked to the students about America's Second Harvest's mission. He was impressed by their enthusiasm.

"It's the kind of thing that really gets us excited," he said.

Produce is important for the local food banks to provide healthy meals, he said.

Stanko said the school hopes to donate 1,500 pounds of food -- grown on site or collected through food drives -- by the end of the school year. Each month will have a theme. This month, children are bringing in peanut butter for the food bank and will supplement it with its school-grown produce.

Although the recent record cold snap killed off the beans and tomatoes, lettuce and cabbage survived, Stanko said. The school also should have oranges and grapefruits available by the end of the month to give.

"We won't let them down," she said.