Students ship seeds to supply local farms
Student volunteers worked together to package seeds for local community gardens. Photo by Nicholas Bainbridge
By Nicholas Bainbridge
News Editor
In honor of historical civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., High Point University held several events on Jan. 18. MLK Day is considered a day of service rather than a day off at HPU, and the programs promoted the betterment of those in the area.
One of these efforts was the Seeds to Share initiative spearheaded by HPU AmeriCorps VISTA Jenny Carpenter. In the Wilson School of Commerce, she and a dozen volunteers worked together to count, package and label vegetable seeds to be donated to local community gardens.
The envelopes contained a variety of seeds, including beans, fruits and vegetables all ready to be grown locally. Several organizations and community members donated these seeds.
This effort was a partnership that Carpenter arranged with Growing High Point, an organization dedicated to providing communities lacking in resources with the opportunity to grow and harvest their food.
Food insecurity is an issue that has troubled High Point. The city is ranked 14th nationally in food hardship by the Food Research and Action Center, after previously being ranked No. 1 in 2016. Fostering community gardens gives access to alternative means of acquiring food to help lessen the issue.
Carpenter explained that preparing seeds for Growing High Point is something that HPU has done several times in previous years, but they handled it differently before. In the six previous occasions, people came in at different times and packaged seeds individually over several days. This year, however, Carpenter decided to have one time where all the volunteers came together to work in unison.
“Because of COVID-19, there were limitations on what we could do,” Carpenter said. “I found that this was a good way for us to come together as a community and help people in need.”
The volunteers kept their facemasks on at all times to not contaminate the seeds. To reduce physical contact between volunteers, they opted to have individual stations rather than an assembly line like they had in previous years.
Some of the volunteers were HPU students taking the time out of their day to benefit those outside their campus. Alexa Berisford, an HPU freshman volunteer, commented on her reasons for helping.
“I think it’s a good day to give back to the community because we don’t have school, and there are a lot of opportunities to help out,” Berisford said.
Members of HPU’s fraternities were present, such as freshman Keira McQuillan from Alpha Phi Omega. Her organization is oriented towards promoting community service and is regularly involved in events like this one.
“I personally love coming to service events and helping the community,” McQuillan said.
Seeds prepared at High Point University will be transported to the High Point Public Library and available for gardeners to pick up from Feb. 13-18.
Carpenter was appreciative of the support she received from the students who came to help. She commented that it was a good sign for everyone to be able to come together for this project, despite the obstacles posed by COVID-19.
“The most important part of community service is that everyone is on the same page so we can work with each other to give to the community,” Carpenter said.
Growing High Point and the Greater High Point Food Alliance, a collection of groups aimed at finding goals for food insecurity issues, are continuing to have projects and service opportunities throughout the year. They provide opportunities for volunteers to help nearby farms with maintenance.
People can send donations to them at their website growinghighpoint.org/donate.