Plant a Row is open for donations for 2022 from June 1 through September 30. Help make a difference in our community by donating extra vegetables from the garden or canned goods to help our Chesapeake Community. The hours have changed to 9:30 am to 12 pm each Tuesday. 

Plant-A-Row for the Hungry (PAR), is a program sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, Chesapeake Master Gardeners and the Garden Writers of America. The PAR program exists on the premise that many gardeners have excess produce during the height of the growing season while at the same time people are facing hunger. PAR was established nationwide to help raise gardeners awareness of the food relief programs in their community and facilitate getting produce to those who need it. Locally, we take produce grown by Chesapeake residents on their own plots, farms, and in their backyards and donate the surplus to the City's hungry. Canned and boxed pantry items are also accepted.

All donations are tax deductible. They are picked up by members of the Harvest Assembly of God on Kempsville Road, who distribute them directly to those in need with a minimum of handling and spoilage.

The need for donations continues to increase. You don't have to have a huge garden because  no amount is too small. Every donation will benefit the hungry and teach compassion.

Beginning in June and ending in late September, Plant A Row urges local gardeners and farmers to share their extra produce by dropping it off at the location below. 

Each Tuesday from 9:30 am - noon Drop-offs are made at the Chesapeake Central Library in Great Bridge at 298 Cedar Rd.  They will benefit the Chesapeake Food Bank

Canned good donations will be accepted at the Virginia Cooperative Extension Office in the Planetarium Building from October until the start-up again in June.

Please help by sending the news to your neighbors, farmers, churches or anywhere else. All kinds of vegetables, fruit, nuts, and even herbs for flavoring in cooking are accepted. Our volunteers also invite dropping off canned goods, rice, bags of potatoes, baby food, and other store bought edible items. Regulations prohibit PAR from accepting homemade goods.

In past years, local gardeners have generously donated high-quality, nutrient-dense, fresh produce. Local farmers markets and farms are asked to donate their surplus of fresh produce, that will not last from one week to the next. If you have a fair amount of fresh produce and are unable to drop it off, we will come and get it. Adding to receiving that warm  feeling from giving, donors receive another benefit. Your charitable donation includes an income tax deduction that usually averages about $1.50 per pound.

With the help of the Chesapeake Master Gardeners educating the community about this program, we hope everyone will participate and make this year our most successful drive ever. Imagine how much food we could collect for the hungry in our city!

For further information, please contact our office number below.