‘Grow for Helpine’ Yields 3,000 Pounds of Food: Pinup Photos
The partnership between Bainbridge Island Fruit Club and the BP Food Resilience Team, an initiative called Grow for Helpline, generated more than 3,000 pounds of food for Helpline House in 2025. Helpline House, the local food pantry, is experiencing a new level of stress generated by federal cuts to food aid and increased usage of its services.
The partners were able to launch the initiative quickly in response to the food crisis because of their additional partnerships with more than 250 people as well as food bank farms, community gardens, and BI Fruit Club. Carol Appenzeller, one of the Leads of the Food Resilience Team, also credits Heather Burger, Executive Director of Friends of the Farms, “for lighting a fire under us to help.
If you volunteered at a farm, took charge of donated beds, or added rows to your grow, Helpline food bank manager Lianne Ristow has a message for you: “Because of you, our shelves are vibrant with healthy, homegrown food! Every tomato, carrot, and herb you’ve grown is nourishing our neighbors and brightening lives. Thank you for every seed, every harvest, and every act of kindness that makes our community stronger.”
If you haven’t yet told us how many pounds you donated, email your estimate to The Leads of the Food Resilience Team. Send photos too!
Grow for Helpline’s activities included garden donations, crucial work on food bank farms, and partner club projects. The Food Resilience Team encouraged participants to do the following:
Donate your unused veg beds or tend an unused garden. Do you have garden beds but not enough time to tend them? Are you an experienced grower who’d love more garden space to grow for donation? Fill out our Growing Connections form and we’ll connect you with potential partners.
Volunteer at a food bank farm. We have two farms on BI that grow exclusively for food banks. Help them grow more while learning from the experts.
Protect fruit trees & vines to donate good quality fruit. Join Fruit Club’s upcoming session on how to grow better fruit for food banks & why it can’t wait. Join tree-fruit work days to maintain public trees.
Grow in your home garden. Join a land army that collectively makes a big difference. If you already grow a row for the food bank, consider growing more. Learn how with Veg Club. Sign up here.
You can grow with the initiative in the future, even if you have no garden and little experience. The team will start work again in a couple of months.
Sign up for Veg Club's monthly news to learn more or donate to Helpline directly.
Enjoy photos of the Grow for Helpline experience this year:
