4-H Club Donates 1,600+ pounds of Produce - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

4-H Club Donates 1,600+ pounds of Produce

Gardeners across the state are turning in their produce totals.

This year's Hunger Garden goal for North Dakota is 500-thousand pounds.

But, as Ag Reporter Sarah Gustin explains one 4-H club went far above the call of duty...donating more than 16-hundred pounds of produce.

Helping feed the hungry..one squash, one potato, one onion at a time.

(Jeff Ellingson / 4-H Leader) "The aspect of seeing a seed grow and harvesting is one thing, but again I think the bigger thing is finding out that our community actually needs this produce and how they can use it."

The HayCreek Kids 4-H Club is making a big donation to those in need.

This is the third year the Morton County club has grown a Hunger Free Garden.

(Jeff Ellingson / 4-H Leader) "Initially it really was a project and it has turned into more of a learning lesson for the kids to give back to the community and go to these places and learn what the produce does."

These 17 4-Her's spent their summer, planting, watering and weeding and now it's time to harvest the fruits of their efforts.

(Karen Ehrens / Hunger Free Garden Project) "This is one of our larger gardeners and that it was done by young people is really showing and challenging other people in North Dakota in how they can help out."

This large garden is yielding some big harvest totals.

These kids are donating 1100 pounds of potatoes, 460 pounds of squash, 40 pounds of onions and 15 pounds of carrots.

(Karen Ehrens / Hunger Free Garden Project) "The donation and the efforts from the kids and their leaders over this summer is just a great showing of how everyone in the community can help each other out."

In all more than 16-hundred pounds of produce is being dropped off at food pantries and charities throughout Bismarck.

A trip that proves to these hard workers their produce will be sitting along some much needed food staples.

(Sarah Dorrheim / 4-h member) "Really kinda amazing. I saw food that was canned and stuff. There's pretty much everything. Marshmallows, cereal, cheerios, chips. Anything you can name."

(Russell Koch / 4-H member) "It's just been really great. And it feels good to give people something that they can't really have."

(Jade Ellingson / 4-h member) "Surprising to see how many people are actually in need and stuff that you didn't really know were in need. So it's pretty cool."

If you have produce you would like to donate to the Hunger Free Project you can contact the North Dakota Department of Agriculture at Ag department dot com for details or call 328-4763 .