WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A West Palm Beach church is facing a growing need from the community it serves.
Several times a week, Dr. Florenzia Davis tends to this garden. It's her church's community garden at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in West Palm Beach.
The garden started to spring up in 2018 but with the pandemic, and now inflation, more people depend on the church to help put food on the table.
"With the increase in the cost of foods and their incomes have not increased. So they sometimes have to make a choice paying their rent or buying food or paying for their medicine," said Davis.
Davis has a Ph.D. in nutritional science. Eating well is at the top of her list.
"Really have a passion for helping people and watching things grow. Using nature to help us provide food. We harvest the vegetables on Saturdays and then on Sunday mornings they are packaged and they are laid out on a table and whoever needs them are able to take what they need," she said.
The church recently partnered with Keller Williams Coastal Partners to help improve the garden.
"Keller Williams they have a community service day every year they call their 'Red Day' and this year they selected Tabernacle to help us with the garden, to clean up the garden. It had gotten to a point where it was only three of us trying to keep it up," said Davis.
"What the mission and the purpose of this urban garden is, just spoke to our hearts," said Renee Goodemote with Keller Williams Coastal Partners. "And we felt that the need in the community to be able to expand and grow this opportunity for them would have impact beyond just that day."
"It has really given us the opportunity to grow more, to provide more for the community," Davis added.