Last winter, the Elders of Ketchikan Pioneer Home in Ketchikan, Alaska, were asked if they could help a local nonprofit organization raise funds for a new building project. We discussed several options at the Resident Council meetings, like a car wash, a fund raising luncheon etc. Then, an Elder suggested we have a plant sale with all the seeds we had planted in our greenhouse a few months before. This way, the Elders could be directly involved from start to finish.
We tended the garden in our greenhouse, repotted the seedlings, nurtured new starts from the flourishing geraniums and impatiens, and prepared for a sale in May. The highlight of the sale was a crop of the most magnificent tomato plants in town! We advertised in the newspaper, on the radio and in our own newsletter. Elders volunteered to work the tables in shifts throughout the day.
In total, the Elders raised over $500.00 through the sale. We were so happy to be able to present a check to the capital campaign for our friends and neighbors at the nonprofit group,Community Connections. It was a moment of pride for the people living at Pioneer Home. We had involved Elders, their families, the community-at-large and were able to give instead of always receiving. Now, it’s August, and we are still enjoying the fruits of our labor from the extra plants that we kept. We are eating fresh tomatoes off the vine and hoping the cucumbers will survive a cooler than usual Alaska summer so we can eat them in a few weeks!
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