Hope Seeds reflects on charitable milestone

This season was one of milestones for the volunteers with the local Hope Seeds chapter. Contributors surpassed their goal of assembling 500,000 seed packets the year of the group's 10th anniversary.

Volunteers celebrated the accomplishment at the last packing event of the season on April 13. With Tim Liggett livening up the hall at Christ Church of Longboat Key through his piano playing, the approximately 40 attendees got to work filling individual bags with portions of early-producing jalapeño seeds to be distributed to farmers in need.

Organizer Ann Quackenbush said it meant everything to long-time contributors to recently reach their packing goal of half a million.

Photo by Dana Kampa

"I'm very goal-oriented, so when I knew we were getting close in the past year, that was my new goal," she said. "All these people keep showing up. It's a great group of people."

Along with the other notable accomplishments this year, the group also recorded the most packets assembled in a single afternoon. Last month, 56 people helped pack 12,400 packs of cabbage seeds, bringing the lifetime total to 508,100.

Quackenbush said she and her sister, Sue Wertman, always endeavor to arrange the seating so attendees get a chance to meet and chat with new people. Volunteers that afternoon shared conversation with their tablemates about everything from their summer travel plans to book recommendations before tucking into the donuts and sandwiches Helen Owen and Beverly Sutton provided.

She told attendees that day, "Thanks to you, thousands have been given the seed of life."

Photo by Dana Kampa

The group plans to resume its monthly meetings this fall. Visit ChristChurchOfLBK.org for dates.