6th Annual Harvest Dinner

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A little rain never hurt anyone…and it definitely didn’t keep our supporters, friends, and Charleston community from getting to the Harvest Dinner last Thursday! Not only did we surpass our expected number of 600 attendees, we were able to bring together our Green Heart and Mitchell Elementary family, and the community all under one tent to celebrate another year of learning and growth in our school garden.

The sun came out just in time for the neighborhood potluck-style dinner to be served. And we can still taste the delicious dishes created by our friends at the Burke Culinary Art Program led by Chef Ira Hill, the BBQ from pitmaster extraordinaire Jamie Westendorff, and the amazing Dry Fried Green Beans cooked by Chef Jeff Cali at Lee Lee’s Hot Kitchen. The Juice Joint supplied thirst-quenching Agua Frescas while the Cannonborough Beverage Co served up fresh, hand-crafted fruit sodas. CCSD Nutrition Services in partnership with the Lowcountry Food Bank was whipping up some strawberry salsa for all to taste. And to pop it all off (pun-intended), King of Pops supplied garden-inspired popsicles for all of our guest. What a meal!

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While the Mitchell Garden provided over 100lbs of heirloom green beans, 40lbs Toscano kale, bibb lettuce, mustard greens, sweet onions, speckled butter beans, cow peas, radishes, and of course strawberries – we could not have the Harvest Dinner without the generosity of our presenting sponsor, Limehouse Produce. For the 4th year in a row they have donated the majority of the fresh veggies for the menu.

The vibe of the event could be felt through SOUL Preservation Society spinning vinyl of some amazing tunes. Kids played corn-hole, painted our community art board, and even got up on stage to try their hand at spinning a tune or two. Charleston Fun Factory was there in spirit- although the rain kept the jump castle out of commission. The Lowcountry Lowline, Upper Peninsula, SC StudentsFirst, Reading Buddies, and Ohm Radio were there getting feedback and talking about how to improve our community. And with the help of Smart Recycling US, 95% of our waste was diverted from the landfill to be composted and recycled.

Thank you to the Lowcountry Food Bank’s Mobile Farmers Market who was able to distribute 6,500 lbs of veggies to our community and for the College of Charleston Farm-to-School Initiative for making it possible.

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We are so overwhelmed with the endless generosity of our community who came out to support our cause and celebrate with us. Together we were able to raise $16,500 – all of which will go directly to Green Heart’s mission of growing a healthy and vibrant community through school gardens. A big {Green} Heart-felt thank you to all of the sponsors, volunteers, and neighbors who made this year’s dinner such an amazing community event. We are already looking forward to next year’s Harvest Dinner!

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