By Emily Mastellone-Snyder, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Marketing, and Communications
Growing food can be about so much more than what ends up on a plate. Through our Growing Gardens program, Rachel’s Table of Western MA (RTWM) supports community organizations as they build and maintain gardens that reflect the needs and visions of the people they serve. The Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee is one of those community partners, having joined the program in 2023.
This July, youth members of the Garden Club at the Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee opened their very own farm stand. The stand is open weekly and stocked with garden goodies for their families and the local community. Children ages eight and up participate in garden and cooking activities throughout the year, and on July 22, they proudly displayed the products of their work and exploration.
All the children in the program can contribute to the stand, whether by harvesting produce, baking treats, making lemonade, or cutting and arranging flowers from the garden. The 11- and 12-year-olds run the stand, welcoming visitors with friendly faces and info about what they have grown and made.
As RTWM’s Growing Gardens Coordinator Eleyna Scarbro describes it, the garden at the Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee has “grown steadily and immensely” since the Club joined the Growing Gardens program in 2023. That growth reflects the Club’s own investment, fundraising, and capacity-building, alongside the consistent training, mentoring, curriculum support, and encouragement provided through RTWM’s Growing Gardens program. That partnership has helped the Club build the confidence and skills needed to bring its own vision for the garden to life.
The farmstand is a wonderful example of what makes the Growing Gardens program so special. The children get to participate in playful and educational garden and cooking activities and then see the results of their work shared with their families and community. The Club will post updates about when the farmstand is open on Instagram at @bgcchicopee. If you’re in the area, stop by and support these young growers!
We are also excited to welcome PV Financial Group as a new Seed Sustainer of the Growing Gardens program. Their generous multi-year commitment will help strengthen the program, and their support also includes financial literacy resources for the communities we serve.
“We’re proud to support Rachel’s Table and the Growing Gardens program, which is helping build healthier communities by providing access to fresh food while empowering local families,” said Kelly Haber, Partner and Registered Principal at Pioneer Valley Financial Group. “We’re excited to contribute both financial support and financial literacy resources to help build stronger futures.”
PV Financial joins Greenfield Cooperative Bank, who was the first sponsor of our Tend-a-Garden Sponsorship. This supporthelped Rachel’s Table of Western MA evaluate the impact of the Growing Gardens program with its first cohort of agencies and strengthen existing gardens as they moved toward greater independence and confidence. We are grateful to both partners for investing in the growth and sustainability of this work.
Partnerships like these allow us to invest not only in food today, but in the skills, confidence, and connections that can help create a healthier and more food-secure future. Sometimes, you can see that future pretty clearly: a group of children standing behind a farmstand, welcoming their neighbors and proudly sharing what they have grown and made.