Employees from a number of corporations dusted off their gardening gloves this summer to provide Winnipeg Harvest with additional food to share with those who need it this fall. 

The Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA), Red River College and Pegasus Publications participated in the Grow-A-Row Corporate Partnership this year and grew approximately 60,000 lbs of vegetables for Winnipeg Harvest. 

"It's a true gift to us because this is not something that we would normally get," said Winnipeg Harvest executive director Kate Brenner. "The program has evolved and now we count on this to make sure people are not just getting food they need but eating healthy produce." 

Brenner wasn't sure how many people will directly benefit from these fruits and vegetables, but she says they will all be put to good use. 

"If we have people coming in looking for emergency food we would be giving them maybe a pound per person depending on the size of the family," said Brenner. "We also ask if there are kids we make sure they have certain things because we want to encourage people to get nutritious foods." 

Grow-A-Row started in 1986 when Winnipeg Harvest volunteers Ron and Eunice O'Donovan produced more potatoes in their garden than they could consume, according to a Winnipeg Harvest release. After their donation was well-recieved, the O'Donovan's encouraged their friends, family and neighbours to grow produce and donate any surplus they had to Winnipeg Harvest. 

"They literally planted a seed," Brenner said with a laugh. "The program took off and a whole bunch of people jumped on board and now we get vegetables every year, it's fabulous." 

Since it started, Grow-A-Row has yielded more than 3.7 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for Winnipeg Harvest.

Brenner welcomes anyone with a garden to donate any extra fruits or vegetables that they might not plan on using. They can be dropped off at Winnipeg Harvest at 1085 Winnipeg Ave from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday and 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday.