GardenShare’s first-ever Fight Hunger Fair and 5K event will be happening this Sunday, Sept. 18 from 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. at the Canton Village Park. GardenShare is a non-profit that promotes a local food system that ensures food security for all St. Lawrence County residents. This is the ninth year of the Fight Hunger 5K, but the organization decided to transform the annual event into a family-friendly community fair to bring awareness of food justice work in St. Lawrence County.
GardenShare Executive Director Carlene Doane said, “We want people to know that, yes, it is a fundraiser, but it is also fun activities and a learning experience and hopefully everyone in attendance will walk away with knowledge on ways to take action to fight hunger and understand what hunger looks like in our county.”
This is GardenShare’s largest annual event. It raises money towards the work of promoting a stable local food system during this vital Hunger Action Month. In addition to the 5K run/walk, which begins at 1 p.m., there will also be educational games and activities centered around food system awareness, a story walk, and live music by String Solstice, as well as tabling of community partners who strive to alleviate local hunger and food insecurity.
The community partners present at the event will include Nature Up North, St. Lawrence County Volunteer Transportation Center, Canton Sustainability Committee and more. The activities will include face painting with Kappa Delta Sigma [KDS], a 50/50 raffle, and food and drinks from Canton Apples and One Step at a Time.
Doane also discussed why this event is important to St. Lawrence University students specifically. “We know a lot of SLU programs are specific to social justice issues, and students are very passionate about that,” Doane said. “Being in our community for four years, I’ve seen how students can take that passion and be active in our community and be a part of our community – not just the SLU community. Volunteering and being active allows you to learn and feel more welcomed in the North Country. Opportunities like this allow you to be exposed to different people and different ideas that you may not experience on campus.”
GardenShare has another connection to SLU, which is that it is KDS’s designated philanthropic organization. Though KDS used to support a national organization, some sisters advocated for partnering with a local non-profit. KDS fundraisers and volunteers for GardenShare, and will be active at the Hunger Fair and 5K.
Students are urged to attend and participate, and, if a student can afford either $25 or $10, students can register with the QR code. Alpha Phi Omega [APO], one of SLU’s volunteering clubs, has a team and fundraiser set up that SLU students can join, and any student is welcome to join the APO group on the day of the fundraiser in order to be united with SLU students at this community event.
The 5K event goes through the SLU campus, so the event will interweave campus and community. And SLU students can continue to connect with this organization and their community outside of this weekend’s event. GardenShare will be continuing to look for SLU interns, and will also continue to work with Community Based Learning [CBL] and St. Lawrence University Public Interest Corps [SLU PIC] – an internship program through St. Lawrence’s Volunteer Services – so if such community work appeals to you, do not be afraid to reach out or be on the lookout for more engagement with this non-profit via Volunteer Services.