Kane County employees to build volunteer garden, donate harvest to food pantries

A group of Kane County government employees hoping to help people dealing with food insecurity are seeking donated supplies to build a volunteer garden near the county clerk's office on the Government Center campus in Geneva.

Kurt Lebo, who works in IT as the county's Spatial Solutions Officer, suggested the idea after volunteering with a community group in Warrenville that grows vegetables and donates their harvest to local food pantries.

"The garden is low maintenance and gives back to the community," Lebo said in a news release. "When you drop off the vegetables, there are lots of people waiting. They are quick to scoop them up and happy to have access to fresh vegetables."

He said a similar setup in Kane County could help provide fresh, locally grown produce to area food pantries while bringing county employees together.

"You see a lot of people walking through the parking lot, but you don't have the opportunity to meet people, typically," Lebo said. "I thought this would at least give those people who like to fiddle around outside an opportunity to get to know each other and build some camaraderie between County departments."

A 24-by-24-foot plot with workable shade and access to water was chosen near the southeast corner of the clerk's office. The garden will be an all-volunteer effort with no cost to the county, just the use of the land.

"We would be working on the garden on weekends and before and after work," Lebo said.

While the team has already started growing tomato and pepper seedlings in containers, they're working to collect donated tools and supplies, including shovels, a hose, fencing, topsoil and timber. They also are looking for interested county staff members who work at the Geneva campus to volunteer prepping the site, planting, weeding and collecting and delivering the harvest to local food pantries.

A complete list and donation signup form can be found at https://bit.ly/KCGarden.

The team expects to be able to donate to local food pantries once or twice a week with several dozen pounds of fresh produce to offer.