HARRISBURG, PA., May 20, 2022 — Empower at the Bridge Foundation and The GIANT Company announced a new partnership to feed underserved families with nutritious foods grown locally while beginning to convert the City of Harrisburg’s food desert into a food oasis. Representatives of both organizations joined Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and First Lady Frances Wolf to cut the ribbon and unveil the “GIANT Bleacher Garden” at the old Bishop McDevitt High School, the future headquarters of The Bridge, Eco-Village in Harrisburg, Pa.
“Supporting families who struggle to put healthy food on their tables while converting food deserts like the City of Harrisburg into a food oasis is the core of our mission at Empower at The Bridge Foundation. With the GIANT Bleacher Garden at The Bridge, we start an Agricultural Revolution in Central Pennsylvania. Thank you to The GIANT Company and our valuable community partner Harrisburg City F.A.R.M., Governor and Mrs. Wolf, and all our dedicated volunteers,” said Garry Gilliam, CEO, The Bridge Eco-Village.
Glennis Harris, senior vice president of customer experience, The GIANT Company, added, “At The GIANT Company, we know that we must work together to truly change the world. By joining forces with innovative organizations like Empower at the Bridge Foundation, we can make a lasting difference in the communities we serve. Each growing season, the GIANT Bleacher Garden’s harvest will serve as a tangible symbol of our purpose, connecting families for a better future. We are so proud to be a part of this incredible project that will help eliminate hunger, heal our planet, and create a better tomorrow for the community.”
The GIANT Company’s $90,000 sponsorship, over two years, enables The Foundation to repurpose the bleachers at the former Bishop McDevitt High School football field into productive, high-yielding community gardens that will feed underserved families. Volunteers from The GIANT Company will continue lending helping hands to the garden as this project aligns with their commitment to heal our planet and eliminate hunger in the communities they serve.
“When we work together, communities can be revitalized, and success ensured,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “Today, we celebrate a successful public-private partnership. I’m proud to have supported Empower at the Bridge Foundation with $4 million through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to revitalize Harrisburg and provide much needed resources out of the former Bishop McDevitt High School. Separately, The GIANT Company is once again stepping up to feed Pennsylvania, and specifically an underserved community with The GIANT Bleacher Garden. Together, these projects will change lives – and that is the power of partnerships.”
GIANT team members have been volunteering in the gardens at the abandoned school. Together, this partnership will provide food-insecure families with regular produce in the months ahead: such as lettuces, salad mixes, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, Asian greens, winter squash, eggplant, pumpkins, peas, Bok Choi, potatoes, onions, kale, collard greens, beans, zucchini, herbs, edible flowers and more. The GIANT Company and Planet Bee also donated beehives to help with pollination and to produce honey.
Gilliam added that teaching neighbors to grow their own food is their ultimate goal. He went onto stress that, “Food security and food localization are at the core of the solutions when we talk about children’s attention spans at school, health and wellness disparities, economic restoration and beyond. Food security and food localization need to be at the core of this revolution if we are going to create significant and meaningful change.”
Amahl Pitts, Co-owner of Harrisburg City F.A.R.M. added that,” Kerry MacDearmid and I have been excited to design and create this tremendous growth space in collaboration with Empower at the Bridge Foundation and volunteers from Evolve Youth Trades Academy, The GIANT Company, Harrisburg Academy, Milton Hershey and others from the community. We are working with the City in hopes of creating other community gardens throughout Harrisburg to help feed and educate individuals on the basics of urban gardening. With the goal being to maximize the spaces we do have, it’s been exciting to partner with Empower at The Bridge Foundation, Garry and The GIANT Company and our incredible volunteers who are helping us weekly to turn this football stadium hillside into a box garden and other areas into thriving nutrient-rich, food-producing resources that can potentially produce thousands of pounds of raw vegetables and fruits.”
If the public wishes to learn more or donate to this new GIANT Bleacher Garden project, visit BleacherGarden.org or mail checks to: Empower at The Bridge Foundation, 833 Meadow Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011.
