Community Garden In Pittsburgh Holds Volunteer Events To Help Community Heal After Tree Of Life Shooting

This article originally appeared on October 27, 2021 in KDKA CBS Pittsburgh

Growing vigorously in a vacant East Liberty lot, bursting from its 18 garden beds with things like fresh tomatoes and peppers, the Sheridan Avenue Orchard and Garden has been providing free produce to the community for almost a decade.

“The goal is that people who are walking by know that they can come in, pick some fresh produce, eat it immediately or take it home with them. Anything that’s not collected, we harvest, and take to the food pantry,” said Julie Mallis, executive director for Repair the World Pittsburgh.

But from the very same soil, those who tend to the garden are sowing seeds of hope.

In the wake of the Tree of Life tragedy three years ago Wednesday, the group started using the community garden for annual volunteer events to help those impacted by the tragedy heal from trauma.

“When I’m in mourning or my friends are in mourning, we’ve found that it’s really meaningful to do something that’s giving of the self,” said Maxwell Reiver, a fellow with Repair the World Pittsburgh. Read the full article here