The Salvation Army in Quebec City has launched a new community garden with the assistance of a grant from the City of Quebec.

The goal of the garden is to provide fresh vegetables for the Army’s community and family services clients, while also giving them the opportunity to engage with their neighbours. The garden is in a lower-income neighbourhood, directly behind the Army’s community and family services location.

The garden will be split in half, with half of the vegetables going to the local volunteers and neighbours who will help maintain and grow the vegetables; the other half will go directly to the clients served by the Army’s food bank.

The community garden is just the first step in the project. In the coming years, The Salvation Army will offer training and courses on gardening, creating a home garden and cooking with fresh vegetables, as well as courses to help people create healthier meals for themselves and their families.

“The community wants to be involved and help people in need,” says Andrea Lauzon Amyot, project supervisor and regional director of public relations, Quebec Division. “This will give them a chance to give back directly to those in need.”

The garden will start with 10 planting plots for 2021 and will increase to 20 for the summer of 2022. The community garden is wheelchair accessible and some of the planting plots have been built to accommodate people with limited mobility.

The Quebec Division hopes to expand the project to other cities in the future.