MCC Donates Fresh Produce to Merrimack Valley Food Bank

Student, staff and faculty gardeners gathered to celebrate the fruits of their labor at MCC’s Community Garden Harvest Lunch recently on the Bedford campus. The volunteer gardeners, who have been working in the MCC Community Garden all summer, gathered together to donate more than 60 pounds of fresh produce to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank (MFVB).

“The Merrimack Valley Food Bank is pleased to receive these generous donations of fresh produce for our Mobile Pantry program,” said Tony Luna, Program Director of MVFB, who was on hand to receive the tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers, lettuce and cucumbers. “The Middlesex Community Garden is a mutually beneficial program that provides a valuable experience in sustainability for students, while offering our Pantry guests a variety of fresh foods to help them maintain good health.”

Since May, Middlesex gardeners have weathered excessive rain and heat – plus hungry deer and woodchucks – to bring in their harvest. MCC’s Community Garden is a collaboration between the Student Sustainability Club, Sustainability Advisory Committee, and the Center for Health & Wellness.

This year, MCC’s Community Garden was expanded to 5,000 square feet, enabling faculty and staff to join student gardeners in cultivating individual and communal plots. By the end of the season, they hope to have donated more than 750 pounds of fresh produce to MVFB. 

For more information on MCC’s Community Garden, contact Chris Fiori, MCC’s Director of Student Accounts, at fioric@middlesex.mass.edu.  

MCC is one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in the state. We offer more than 75 degree and certificate programs, plus hundreds of noncredit courses, during the day, evening and weekend, on our Bedford and Lowell campuses, and online. Middlesex – a great place to begin your future!