Meet Carolina, Aaron and Dale--All members of the Garland Good Samaritan Volunteer Force.  They are holding some fresh greens from the Garland Community Garden that I delivered this morning.

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This morning as I was cutting greens, cabbage, turnips, and broccoli down at the Garland Community Garden, I was reminded of the bountiful potential that our area offers its residents for growing food year round.  If you plant the right things, you can grow great food all year long here in our area--even without a greenhouse and even in our urban setting.  This morning I delivered 22 one-gallon bags of vitamin-packed healthy greens to the Good Samaritans of Garland.  These greens came from the Garland Community Garden, six bags from Margie and Gene Rodger's (founding members of Loving Garland Green), and two from my garden.

And speaking of the Good Samaritans of Garland, I had the honor to meet more of their volunteers this morning.  Dale is a member of our retiree community.  I asked her why she volunteers.  She told me that she made a pact with God.  If he would make sure that she was able to live on her retirement income that she would volunteer.  Dales volunteers three days a week.  Carolina is an immigrant from Venezuela who has only been in the USA for a year.  She said she loves to volunteer and she is learning English through her volunteer work.  Aaron, a young man full of positive energy, said he loves the feeling of helping others.

Volunteerism is the bedrock of any community.  And as many point out, when you volunteer, all sorts of good things happen:  for your community, for the people you assist, and not least of all--YOU.  Yes, most volunteers will tell you if you ask:  We get more back than we give.  It just seems to work out that way.  Try it and you'll see what I mean.