Poland, July 2020
Regular visitors and friends of LCP are already familiar with LCP’s wonderful gardens that spring to life with abundance each summer. This year was no exception! As summer progressed, the garden harvest at LCP kept increasing week by week!
Traditionally, LCP would plant the garden on a large scale to cater for the annual European Summer Retreat. This year with the Covid-19 pandemic, we could not proceed with the annual event. So we decided to get creative to put our summer bumper crop to good use!
We brainstormed ideas and decided to share lettuce, zucchini and chard with the local home for the homeless for the first time this summer. On top of that, we added some three-litre jars of LCP Aronia Apple Jam from last year’s harvest.
When we called the home to check if they would like to receive our veggies, they were very happy and appreciative of the offer!
When we arrived, the manager and some of the residents were already waiting in front of the building. While we were very happy to see each other again, we all remembered to follow the Covid-19 social distancing guidelines. Embracing the “new normal”, we exchanged some warm greetings without handshakes or physical contact. As we unloaded the gifted produce, we wore masks and gloves to comply with health and safety guidelines. The residents got right down to work. They helped us exchange the boxes and bring everything to their kitchen and storage.
It was a fast action in a spirit of mutual gratitude not only for the recipients but also for us who had the opportunity to share. After five years of being a part of the local community, sharing with our neighbors felt like a natural thing to do!
