Two dozen volunteers planted rows of fruits and vegetables on Saturday at the Garden of Giving in Saylorsburg.

“This is my first time here. I love it. I will come back to help throughout the summer,” Maslyn Schoeller said.

She worked alongside her mother, Christine Schoeller, who has volunteered here for four years.

They began the morning planting tomatoes. When done with that task, they moved on to planting peppers.

“This is our 12th year of planting and growing. We celebrated our 10-year anniversary as a nonprofit on Sept. 9, 2019,” founder Tammy Graeber said.

May 16 and 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. was planting weekend.

The Garden of Giving supplies Monroe County food bank facilities with fresh produce and eggs. There are 2½ planted acres at 2556 Rising Hill Drive, Saylorsburg, and another 2½ planted acres next to the Western Pocono Community Library.

“We plant 10,000 seeds of corn and 10,000 seeds of green beans by the library,” Graeber said.

The nonprofit helps to nourish those in need by supplying food to 10 to 12 local pantries, including Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network, West End Food Pantry and Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church Food Pantry.

“I used to volunteer at a food pantry. I saw the need for fresh fruits and vegetables,” Graeber said.

The Garden of Giving was founded in 2008. The garden provides blueberries, raspberries, corn, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, asparagus and many other fresh vegetables. Eggs are collected daily.

On Saturday, volunteers were dressed in pants and T-shirts, kneeling on knee pads, and maintained social distance or wore their mask when close to each other.

They planted seeds, hauled weeds and debris in wheelbarrows and other gardening tasks.

The volunteers represented a few local churches.

“I am an avid gardener. I love being outside. I love that this helps the local food pantries,” said Susan Garr, a first-time volunteer at the Garden of Giving and member of Cornerstone Community Church.

Garr, who was planting basil on Saturday, has wanted to volunteer here for a few years.

She and Graeber spoke about it often at the church.

“We have come here for planting weekends but have not come back to see the fruits of our labor,” said Robin Miller, one of a handful of volunteers from Pocono Lake United Methodist Church.

Starting on June 2, Graeber will need volunteers Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to tie up tomatoes, do the weeding, cut kale and other tasks.

“There is always something to do,” Graeber said.

The Golden Harvester Senior Area and Youth Education Center is a new initiative this year. It is a quarter acre of beds raised three feet off the ground.

“Senior citizens and students will remain standing while they do the planting,” Graeber said.

This remains a work in progress. It is not finished or in use yet.

She has received donations from Kiwanis Club of the Poconos-Daybreak, Cornerstone Community Church and the Anne and Joseph Farda Foundation for this new initiative.

“Tammy’s mission is amazing. She started all this, and her purpose is a wonderful gift,” Miller said.

For more information: https://www.thegardenofgiving.org/welcome.