Girl Scout Grows for Gold

Casey Manzella & Katie Kuberra
Reporters

Senior Janelle Gerardi seems like your typical student: balancing time between her schoolwork, sports and college applications. However, outside of school, she spends over 100 hours of her free time focusing on something much bigger than herself.

Janelle started an organization called FROG, which stands for Food Right Out of the Ground, in order to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award. Through this volunteer run program she collects extra produce from around New Canaan, which she then donates to the New Canaan Food Pantry.

“She’s the kind of person who, once she’s got a plan, gets going and does it,” Brian Hollstein, Janelle’s project advisor and director of St. Mark’s Gospel Garden at the New Canaan Food Pantry, said.

When trying to choose an organization to work with to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award, Janelle immediately knew that the Food Pantry was the one. Last year, for her Girl Scout Silver Award, she built compost bins and installed a solar-powered computer with a map to keep track of the produce growing in the St. Mark’s garden. “The inspiration for this project mostly came from the time I’ve spent with the New Canaan Food Pantry volunteering and also what I’ve done with the Gospel Garden for my Silver Award,” Janelle said.

In order to find New Canaan gardeners willing to donate fresh produce, Janelle sent over 500 emails to everyone she knew. She ended up finding about 10 gardens that donate regularly. According to Janelle, “Promotion is very important for any community project. I would suggest you put press releases in the paper, email all of your friends – do anything it takes because you can’t do it without their support.”

There are many more steps to Janelle’s project besides transferring food from these private gardens to the mouths of needy New Canaan families. “On the actual collection day I send out volunteers to the private gardens to collect the produce from their houses. We then bring it to the Food Pantry where we weigh it, wash it, and then sort it so the next day it’s easily accessible for the clients to get whatever vegetable they need,” Janelle said.

In addition to the private gardens, Janelle also collects unwanted or excess produce from the local farmer’s market. “On her own she went over to talk to the people at the New Canaan Farmer’s Market and that really started things up. She’s been showing up to the food pantry regularly now with 200 to 300 pounds of fresh produce. It’s really been very productive,” Mr. Hollstein said.

Janelle’s project has done more for these New Canaan families than just make fresh vegetables more accessible. “Having the fresh vegetables is a morale booster for the people that come to the food pantry,” Mr. Hollstein said.

Living in New Canaan, it is easy to assume that there are not many families that take advantage of the F.R.O.G. program. However, there are over 150 families registered with the New Canaan Food Bank who rely on Janelle’s donations to get their fresh produce.

Janelle has found that the many hours of community service have benefitted her personally, as well. “I’ve learned that anyone can make an impact on the community. If I had never done this project then these clients would still be struggling to get their fresh produce,” she said.

Janelle’s dedication to FROG has greatly benefited the community by providing the opportunity to eat healthy to the countless New Canaan families that need assistance. Mr. Hollstein stated, “It’s been a great project. I hope that it will continue on, that maybe Janelle will able to pass the baton to another person and keep the project going in the future because it’s very, very useful.”