NRHS Senior Plants Produce for Food Pantry

North Reading High School Senior Samantha McGoldrick has been a Girl Scout since she was in kindergarten. To receive the highest award a scout can dream of and help her community, McGoldrick planted raised beds at Town Hall to benefit the Food Pantry.

McGoldrick wanted her Girl Scout Gold project to center around food and help those in need. After taking a trip to the Food Pantry, she realized how little fresh produce they had.

During her visit, she remembers seeing about four watermelons and that was it.

“It’s not nearly enough produce that they have,” she said.

So she got to work on the beds, and built four in the back of Town Hall. She planned to have two beds of tomatoes, one bed of lettuce and one of squash. Unfortunately, she planted a bit late in the growing season and did not yield as much produce as she would have liked. The frost last week ruined some of her hard work and she had to dig up the plants.

However, the goal of her project was for it to be sustainable. McGoldrick worked with the Garden Club to ensure that next year they would take advantage of her beds and plant again at the start of the growing season. She asked volunteers at the Food Pantry to be in charge of taking care of the plants throughout the season, and picking the vegetables when they are ready so her project will continue to benefit the community for years to come. 

The tomato plants in McGoldrick's own backyard were producing about a dozen tomatoes per week this summer, the same she hopes her beds at Town Hall will produce next year. Although she will be away at college, she will ensure that her project is going well by checking in with both the Garden Club and Food Pantry volunteers.

After her final report is complete and if her project is approved, McGoldrick will receive the Girl Scout Gold award.