Our mission is to create a hunger free community on South Whidbey Island. Good Cheer Food Bank Garden is located on Whidbey Island, WA. We are a choice-based food bank, operating on a grocery-store model to increase access to nutrient dense foods. Our food bank empowers people to choose what they need, our Community Connection program offers referrals to other services and agencies, and our garden produces fresh vegetables year round. Together, our dynamic and diverse team of volunteers, staff, donors, and shoppers understand that sometimes we all need help; and, more importantly, that everyone has something to contribute. Good Cheer Food Bank is here for anyone that doesn’t have adequate resources to feed themselves or their family. There are no additional eligibility requirements to access our services. No one will be turned away without food.
Good Cheer’s Garden Program began in 2009 to address the lack of fresh produce regularly available to food bank shoppers. We now cultivate 1.25 acres of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Our main focus is growing hardy winter vegetables so we can be sure to have fresh produce available when the food bank is the busiest. Our winter crops are typically left in the field and harvested as needed. The garden crew harvests something from the garden almost every week of the year! In 2023 we had a monthly average of 2,600 food bank shoppers.
Our goal, beyond providing fresh produce, is to be an educational space and to reduce barriers around people growing their own food. We typically start extra seeds with each planting and freely offer these surplus starts to food bank shoppers who want them. Occasionally we have excess seed that is also shared, free-of-charge, with food bank shoppers. Volunteers and community members are encouraged to visit or work in the garden to learn more about small-scale food production.
We grew a lot of produce for the food bank this year… 14,117 pounds of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs to be exact! That includes: 608 lbs of spinach, 1,029# of beets, 4,060 lbs of carrots for the food bank and 1,186 lbs for South Whidbey Schools.
Follow along at @goodcheergarden, goodcheer.org.