08/12/2026
A South Hill Lions Club member recently appeared on PBS with a segment about
the Harvest for Health Garden located at VCU CMH Hospital in South Hill.
Lead Lenora Wright was part of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Services
that partnered with them last year to address food insecurity and improve
the health outcomes of those in Southern Virgina. Wright led the SNAP Ed
initiative project that culminated in the combined efforts of the Harvest
for Health Garden in South Hill.
"This started actually in 2024 at a local civic engagement meeting, the
Lions Club.
The president of VCU , Sheldon Barr, was presenting her 2025 to 2027
community health improvement plan.
And so, as I was sitting there listening, I said, "Wow, VCU actually has a
shared vision and mission as Virginia Cooperative Extension. So when sitting
there, I decided, you know, I think this would be an excellent partner to
address food insecurity in the area.
Food really is at the core of health prevention, health maintenance, and
then even health healing, and this is that shared space for everyone to come
and take part of it that lives in Southern Virginia or may just be passing
through because they needed some services that we offer here."
To create partnerships Lenora went out into the community with the message
that VCU, CMH, and Virginia Cooperative Extension is embarking upon a
mission to create a community garden in the area to address the long-term
issues of food insecurity and people not having access to fresh food and
produce, and she shared that mission, and that passion spread across the
community through local agencies, local farmers, local vendors, VCE staff,
VCU staff, and just residents, the community at large. They all jumped on
board to be part of this mission.
"So we actually had a meeting with the master gardener and we deliberately
decided what vegetables, herbs, and beans that we would plant, and so our
end final list was we had some tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, okra, and the
herbs, we had a fresh basil, chives, and sage, and then we had planted a
series of beans and that first raised bed, which is also ADA-compliant,"
Wright says.
"So, aside from being able to provide fresh produce for the community, this
garden is also a place of change and transformation. It's a place where
nutrition education can happen, the sharing of knowledge and resources.
It creates a safe space for the community to come out and enjoy and have
food demos and just learn about all the fresh produce that's in this
wonderful garden, but aside from that, this community garden, Harvest for
Health, is also part of the garden social ecosystem, and it fits into the
overall ecosystem," stated Wright.
She also shared her thoughts on where she sees the project progressing into
the future. "So, my vision is for this garden to expand outward into the
broader community and have people think about more healthy living.
And just stressing again the importance of community and civic engagement,
and being able to bring them into the fold. Along with our partnerships, a
goal is to be able to create a paradigm shift, a behavioral change, so that,
you know, being that this is a SNAP-Ed initiative, is to help low income, is
to help SNAP-eligible participants to be able to say, "I can come to this
garden with a minimal budget and be able to go home and cook a fresh,
healthy meal for my family as opposed to spending maybe $20 in fast food."
The PBS segment with Lenora Wright and Sheldon Barr from VCU CMH aired
several times in August and can be found at this link with a full transcript.
https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaHomeGrown/videos/901566699140245 https://www.pbs.org/video/harvest-for-health-gtcybk/
Wright reminds us "it takes an entire community and village to start with an idea and have passion as a driver, and you can manifest that abundance with the garden." And it all started at a South Hill Lions Club meeting with just a
seed of an idea that has blossomed into a full Harvest of Health .
