“I’VE BECOME MORE GENEROUS AND AWARE BECAUSE OF MY TIME HERE.”

Seeds of Change

I met Sprout Urban Farms founder and Executive Director Jeremy Andrews through another charity organization I’m a part of. He encouraged me to come by and check out what Sprout is doing. I had free time, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

I stopped by a few times and ended up, rather unexpectedly, liking it. I got to hang out with cool guys who are helping to make such a big difference in the community. I saw them and I thought ‘I want to do more of this.’

Growing Into a Volunteer

Now I help out three or four days a week. I come in after my regular job with the post office. I split my time volunteering for Sprout between two different farms and their greenhouse. One location is much more physical than the other. It involves breaking up cement and other hard labor, but that kind of stuff doesn’t bother me. I like it.

I like that instead of finding myself playing video games or with too much free time on my hands, I’m doing something good for the community I was born and raised in and helping people in need. Furthermore, I feel like it’s my responsibility to spread the good I’m doing by getting my friends involved in volunteering. It doesn’t matter if it’s here at Sprout or somewhere else, as long as they work to make a difference, like I am.

My name is Tony, and now I help change the story.

With the generous help of Sprout Urban Farms, Tony was able to change the story.

Health

We are making sure people have access to physical and mental health care, and that babies are born healthy. We work with health care providers to keep costs low and make sure services are available for those with little or no health insurance.

Income

We’re helping families become – and stay – self-sufficient by investing in programs that help them stay in their homes, through rental assistance, budgeting and financial counseling. We also help people become financially stable by supporting job training and retention programs, and through the Tax Counseling Initiative and the Emergency Food and Shelter program.