Bringing Hope to Harlem

Tony Hillery was the owner of a successful limousine company, but the business closed due to the financial crisis of 2009. He had enough money to retire, but wanted to stay active and do something worthwhile. He read about underfunded schools in Harlem (New York City) with no art, gym, or music - a sharp contrast to the expensive private schools that his children had attended. Tony wanted to help these under-privileged black children, so he volunteered to work as an assistant. He soon built a relationship with many of the kids, and learned that almost half of them were living in homeless shelters. "It tore me up. I was looking for some way to help... anything."
There was an abandoned community garden across the street, so Tony decided to clean it up. He had no idea what he was going to do with the space, when one morning a little girl named Nevaeh tugged on his shoulder and said, “Mr. Tony, why don't we plant something?” He didn't know anything about gardening, but he bought a truckload of organic soil and, with the help of Nevaeh and her friends, planted some herbs. Over time the garden grew and many local kids joined. Tony found out that most of them had very poor diets – a lot of sugar and processed foods. Their neighbourhood had many fast food restaurants but not one supermarket! To remedy that situation they started to plant more vegetables, so that the children would have healthy food to take home.
That humble beginning has become an important youth-oriented organization called Harlem Grown. It now has 12 urban farms where the children of the community are learning science and agricultural lessons through their hands-on experience working in the gardens. Harlem Grown is also improving their health as it provides the residents with about 1,000 kilos of free organic produce every year. Nevaeh is a young woman now, and she helps to manage the organization. Tony is proud of what he has achieved, but is quick to point out that the goal of Harlem Grown is not just to grow food... but to grow healthy children.