Sleepless in San Diego

by Colin Richard

Last Saturday Plant With Purpose joined dozens of other organizations in support of the 4th annual Sleepless San Diego event that took place at Liberty Station here in San Diego. Beginning mid-afternoon, hundreds of participants attended a free expo to learn more about the predicament of the approximately 10,000 homeless men, women and children that call the San Diego area home. Booths showcasing various businesses and organizations and their efforts to assist those affected by homelessness packed the periphery of a courtyard area in Liberty Station, while scores of cots filled the center. Live music, speakers and kids’ activities kept the scene lively. Individuals, and in some cases whole families, spent the night as well, some sleeping under makeshift cardboard structures as they sought to gain a deeper sense of empathy for what the urban poor of this city and others around the world experience daily.

Visitors to the Plant With Purpose booth were glad to see us, as usual. We often table at events such as these to share with others our commitment to alleviating poverty through environmental restoration, economic empowerment and spiritual inspiration. One initiative of Plant With Purpose in the countries where we work is helping to establish biointensive vegetable gardens to help the poor provide fresh, nutritious vegetables for themselves and sometimes for market as well. The big news at Sleepless was that a potential partnership is in the works between Plant With Purpose and San Diego Rescue Mission to develop a garden program that will provide both fresh fruits and vegetables and job training for the homeless

individuals at the Mission. We had an awesome example of a raised vegetable bed on display that drew hundreds of people into our booth to learn and get excited about the potential pilot project! Locally produced healthy veggies and San Diego volunteer opportunities coming soon to Plant With Purpose! Stay tuned for more updates as time goes on!