Growth In Goffney Garden

Welcome to the Garden

Organic zucchini growing in the garden!

Located in the Kashmere Gardens neighborhood in northeast Houston, our Willie H. & Gladys R. Goffney Community Garden is integral to the work we do. Each year, this 2-acre garden which houses 100 beds provides 9,000 pounds of fresh produce for community members in need of food assistance. We grow fruits and vegetables that thrive in the hot, humid Houston summers. Anything we grow also must produce A LOT – 9,000 pounds of zucchini grows much faster than 9,000 pounds of watermelon. The produce is also grown organically – no pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. As Mark, our Garden Assistant has said, “we want to produce the finest organic food, because nobody deserves anything less.”

Mark, our Garden Assistant, explaining what needs to be done for the day to our volunteers from Enbridge.

The day we pick the produce is the day clients receive it. There is no shortage of variety from our garden either. On a tour walking through the beds, Mark will pull the giant squash leaves aside and show you the bright yellow squash growing from equally bright yellow flowers. A little farther down you can see the tops of carrots growing up and up. If you brush a little dirt aside, you can see the bright orange tip of a few carrots stand out in the dirt. Lupe, our Garden Coordinator, is quick to point out her favorite vegetable – zucchini. She says, “our zucchini sometimes grows so big they get their own names.” She will also show you the raised beds full of tomatoes and green beans, all bright and looking incredibly delicious, and all for the community members who need it. Lupe and Mark are both very passionate about what they do, and we hope you visit to see this passion firsthand!

All for the Community

Volunteers from Keller Williams taking care of our carrot beds.

We call it a “community” garden because that is precisely who it belongs to – the members of our community. The nutritious food we produce is an incredibly important addition to the distributions of food that go out to our clients. Fresh produce can be hard to find in the neighborhoods we serve – areas that are called “food desserts” because of the lack of access to healthy, nutritious food. Grocery stores are few and far between, and often the closest store to buy food might be a convenience store or dollar store where healthy food options are scarce.

Community members and volunteers are critical to the growth of our garden. Volunteers are invited to come spend the day in our garden, assisting in various projects that keep it going. You can build garden beds, turn soil, weed, plant, water, and harvest. Growing 9,000 pounds of produce each year is no easy feat, the more volunteers we have the more we can do for the community we serve. Our garden is big enough to host large groups – we have had as many as 240 people at one time, and opportunities are available 6 days a week. If you are interested in volunteering please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@targethunger.org or sign-up here.

In the next few weeks, we will be sharing some exciting news about our expanding Garden program. So, stay tuned!

Welcome to Slices of Life!

Some of our Board members volunteering at a distribution.

We are so excited to be kicking off our new blog, Slices of Life, to keep you better informed about what Target Hunger is doing to help our community! Jump on our site every Tuesday to read about everything going on here at Target Hunger. You’ll read about our programs, experience day-to-day life with our amazing staff, familiarize yourself with our volunteer experience, and most importantly, understand the impact of our work through the eyes of the people we serve each and every day. We are thrilled to be able to communicate more through this medium with all of you — our volunteers, donors, and the people we serve.

We hope you’ll enjoy reading the stories we share, learn a little along the way, and that you’ll use this as an opportunity to share our story with your community. More work can be done in the 9 zip codes we serve with every individual who gets involves and comes to know more about what Target Hunger does. Our wish is that one day the work isn’t necessary, but until that time we will continue to work hard for those that need it most.

As School Ends and Hurricane Season Begins…

An HPD officer from the Northeast Substation at one of our distributions!

For the last year, we have been in disaster mode, serving our communities through our Drive-Thru Food Distributions and Home Deliveries to seniors and families with barriers to transportation. We shared a video at our annual fundraiser about what this last year has been like for our organization, you can watch it here. As we shift from COVID disaster mode back to our normal operations, we want to start off by reminding you what the upcoming summer season means for the neighborhoods we serve. The hottest season of the year means family vacation time and pool days for many. However, here in Houston, we know it also means the start of hurricane season and school being out of session. These two things can present unique obstacles to families that are already struggling and do not have the resources to stock-up.

For Target Hunger, that requires preparing for potential disaster response, much like our response over the last year. No one is truly prepared for the potential of natural disasters, but we do our best to get our warehouse stocked as much as possible should we need the extra resources. In June, we’ll be pre-packing over 300 boxes that will be filled with energy-rich, zero-prep foods that will be ready to be distributed if a storm hits.

Summer is also a break from school for our students, and for many we serve, it means the loss of incredibly important school meals during the day. Many students in the neighborhoods we serve rely on their schools to provide nutritious meals that they otherwise may not get at home.

Packing boxes of food to be delivered to clients!

This season brings fears that are both familiar and foreign to many of you. It is so important for us to prepare as best we can for these next few months, and we would love your help!

One great way you can support us is by hosting a CANnecting Food Drive – virtually or in-person. Food drives are a fun way to get many people involved to collect as much food (or donations) as possible. The food that you collect will stock our warehouse and set us on a great path to deal with whatever comes our way. Together we CAN make Houston a city without hunger. For more information, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at 281-913-9423 or volunteer@targethunger.org.

You can also shop directly for us on our Amazon Wishlist. This is an easy way to donate goods that will make a huge impact in the neighborhoods we serve! You can also shop with us on Amazon Smile! When you shop Amazon Smile and select Target Hunger as your charitable organization, Amazon will donate .5% of your purchase to us. Another easy way to make a difference!

Thanks for reading this week – see you next Tuesday!

Hello friends of Target Hunger,

First, we truly hope you are well and safe during this unprecedented time.

We are so grateful for your generous gifts which are making it possible for Target Hunger to continue provide food assistance for our vulnerable neighbors and to keep up with the overwhelming demand from COVID-19. Read more →