St. Gianna Parish is offering a new initiative within the parish and our community!  This initiative is two-fold to allow participation from everyone of time, talent and/or treasure.

The first opportunity is to sign up to either grow a row of vegetables in your own garden and donate it to St. Gianna’s Harvest OR to sign-up and help grow and maintain the garden on-site at St. Gianna’s.  Our parish will be distributing the vegetables to organizations that support our vulnerable community, such as Missionaries of Charity, Bear Clan, Willow Place, House of Hesed, and Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.

We are asking for a row of one of the following vegetables: carrots, onions, beans, peas, tomatoes, or squash.  At harvest time (August-September), we will organize intake days to bring all the “vegetables” of your labour to St. Gianna’s for distribution.  This initiative is not limited to parishioners, so please share this opportunity with friends and family who may wish to participate and we can all grow together.

To share in this initiative you can sign-up below or visit the Harvest Ministry table in the narthex after the Sunday liturgy.  Your name and vegetable will be proudly displayed as your commitment towards this effort.

The second opportunity is to support the development of our own garden onsite at St. Gianna’s.  The garden will be built as slightly raised garden beds to accommodate the ground we have and offer an option for mobility.  Planning for this initiative is underway and all the harvest will be donated within the community to the organizations noted above.  We are asking parishioners to consider making a monetary donation to support developing the land for the garden, purchase garden boxes and planting items, as well as regular maintenance.

As a parish, we hope to support the community we are called to serve.  We recognize the good work other organizations do to provide for those who need a helping hand.   Please join us in ‘being part of something great!’