First Baptist Church Pastor: Ask before taking food from garden

Officials at First Baptist Church in Corbin say they are more than willing to share produce from the community garden but request that individuals ask before taking from it.

The pastor and congregation at First Baptist Church in Corbin are asking the community to respect the rules when taking items from the community garden.

Pastor Austin Carty said the garden on Laurel Ave. is envisioned as a benefit to the community with its plethora of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash and other fruits and vegetables.

However, Carty said there have been several instances of individuals taking significant amounts of produce without asking.

“We don’t want to send a signal, ‘Don’t come around our garden,’” Carty said adding the whole point is to share.

“We want it to be a community resource but the way we like it to work is for people to come by or contact us at the church before taking produce,” Carty said.

Carty said volunteers from the church and the community spend each Thursday harvesting produce.

The produce is then distributed through the church’s food pantry.

Carty said since the garden was started in 2016, 863 pound of produce has been distributed to 1,341 people.

“We have anywhere from four to eight or nine people on any given Thursday,” Carty said when asked about the number of people involved. “Between our harvest team, folks on the garden committee and people from the community that involved, we have about 15 active participants.”

“We would very much love to have more participants,” Carty added explaining that anyone who would like to help with the garden or take produce from the garden may contact the church office at 528-4738.

The church offers a program whereby individuals and/or families work in the garden and attend food preparation classes in exchange for a box of fresh produce.

“We want more people to contact us about working with us to receive the food,” Carty said.