Northwest Youth Corps - NYC AmeriCorps members make a difference

On Saturday, Fox and about 60 other volunteers helped harvest produce from the Grass Roots Garden, an organic community garden next to St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Coburg Road to celebrate Make a Difference Day.

A record 30,000 pounds of produce from this year's crop will go to FOOD for Lane County.

Still to be harvested are carrots, leeks, beets, cabbage, cauliflower and peppers, which should add to that total by about a ton, organizers said.

Volunteers also cleared away overgrown blackberry bushes, hauled compost and prepared seed beds for next year's crops.

Spending a couple of hours a week volunteering for a good cause is gratifying, said Fox, a comparative literature major at the University of Oregon.

'It's physically satisfying in that you get dirty and use a shovel. You also have the social interaction with like-minded people, and knowing that you're helping people get fed next year,' she said.

Also participating in the community service project as part of National Make a Difference Day were members of the University of Oregon Campus Ministry, students from International High School and eight AmeriCorps members serving at Northwest Youth Corps' OutDoor School.

AmeriCorps began 10 years ago under President Clinton as a domestic version of the Peace Corps.

Sarah Nommensen, 25, an AmeriCorps volunteer from Park Ridge, Ill., wanted to see a different part of the United States and to give back to her country as a community volunteer, she said.

A music teacher at an elementary school in Kokomo, Ind., before enlisting for a 10-month tour of duty with AmeriCorps, Nommensen said adults don't give teenagers enough credit when it comes to civic volunteering.

'It's amazing to see what kids can do when they put their minds to something,' Nommensen said.

As part of his Eagle Scout project, Ethan Kent, 17, of Pleasant Hill, has spent the past two months building a shed for the garden's organic fertilizer.

'Giving back to the community, helping FOOD for Lane County help feed a lot of people is why I'm here,' Kent said as he installed a section of corrugated polycarbonate roofing to the shed.

With the precision of a factory assembly line, other volunteers harvested the celery, washed it in makeshift portable bathtubs and packed the super-sized vegetable in produce boxes.

The celery, which was shipped to FOOD for Lane County's cold storage warehouse, is an essential food source for the agency, said Merry Bradley, Grass Roots Garden coordinator.

'Our high quality organic celery will be used for soups and casseroles at our kitchens,' she said.

Bradley anticipated an even higher yield were it not for a stretch of chilly nights in September that devastated the tomato crop, she said.

About 6,000 pounds of tomatoes were lost due to blight from that early cold, Bradley said.

'That's a very desired crop and we took a real hit this year,' she said.

The 2 1/2 -acre garden has seen its crop yields multiply from 4,000 pounds in 2001, 15,000 pounds in 2002 and 30,000 pounds last year, Bradley said.

'The power of many people laying down the foundation made all of this possible,' she said.

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