FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2001
Plant a Row for the Hungry Proclamation to Kick -Off March Events
(MOUNT PLEASANT, SC) February 19, 2001--The Clemson Extension Service, The Master Gardeners' Plant a Row Program and the Town of Mount Pleasant will kick off several activities to increase the awareness of the plight of the hungry in the Lowcountry next month. Mount Pleasant Mayor Harry H. Hallman Jr. will proclaim Plant a Row for the Hungry month in Mount Pleasant on March 1 at 3:00PM at Town Hall.
Created by the Garden Writers Association of America and Home & Garden Television, The Plant a Row Program is striving under the leadership of the Clemson Extension Service and its Master Gardeners' Program. The program is simple and based on a people-helping people philosophy seeking to help those in need in its own community.
Plant a Row for the Hungry provides fresh fruits and vegetables to the Lowcountry Food Bank, which in turns distributes them to more than 300 agencies in over 10 counties in South Carolina. Last year, 18,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables were donated by local gardeners and farmers involved in the Mount Pleasant Farmers' Market. "The contributions made by our market participants, and notably by Sidi Limehouse, were very generous and answered a real need in our community by providing healthy and nutritious foods to those in need," said Sally Harper Mount Pleasant Farmers' Market Coordinator.
"Twenty seven percent of all food in the United States is thrown away while one in every four children in South Carolina is food insecure or hungry," said Jacki Baer, Plant a Row Coordinator. "These numbers do not spare Mount Pleasant and when hunger is a concern among the 26 percent of people in South Carolina who live at or below the poverty level, the need to act becomes paramount."
Mayor Hallman will recognize March 2001 as Plant a Row for the Hungry
month and urge Mount Pleasant residents, officials, organizations and businesses
to dedicate efforts to the relief of hunger. Several Mount Pleasant and
county-wide activities will promote the program and the need to make fresh
food a reality for children, the homeless, the poor, the elderly, the sick
and the infirm and those in crisis who might not have
otherwise access to fresh food.
Residents are encouraged to become involved in the Plant a Row Program by contacting Master Gardener and Program Coordinator Jacki Baer at 881-6798.