In 2018, Eleanor Hetke, Clark County Adventist Community Services Center director, invited Marilyn Puccinelli to develop a garden on the center's property. The freshly grown organic produce supplements other food and clothing given to clients who come for special assistance.
Volunteers from Adventist Community Church of Vancouver and other Adventist and non-Adventist churches in the area care for the 3,000-square-foot garden. Their efforts have significantly impacted the local community by providing fresh, organic produce to those in need.
The garden is grown through an organic approach. The harvest of the large variety of plants is bountiful. The center teaches classes for the community that explain how and why each gardening step is done. A teacher at a nearby school brought students to see why the center’s garden was doing well when theirs was not. Vancouver’s mayor has strongly supported the center’s influence in the community.
The garden is grown through an organic approach, which helps control diseases and pests without using chemicals. The harvest of the large variety of plants is bountiful and, many believe, sweeter-tasting. The center teaches classes for the community that explain how and why each gardening step is done. A teacher at a nearby school brought students over to see why the center’s garden was doing so well when theirs was not. Vancouver’s mayor has strongly supported the center’s influence in the community.
Word had gotten out about the success of the garden. In 2024, Clark County Green Neighbors invited the center to participate in its annual Natural Garden Tour. The self-guided tour included nine different gardens in the county and more than 130 people visited the center’s garden. The tour brought excited affirmation, not only for the well-planned garden but for the service it provides for the community. Behind it all, however, is a sense of gratitude for the Creator who invited them to garden in the first place.
Marilyn Puccinelli works in the garden.
Volunteers work hard caring for the garden and are rewarded with a bountiful harvest, which is then shared with the community.
God has blessed the garden with a variety of abundant crops.
