Anyone with a little free time and a desire to get their hands dirty while making a difference needs to go no further than the Cleveland County Potato Project.
For 12 years, the nonprofit has relied on volunteers to help feed the hungry with homegrown potatoes.
The latest volunteer opportunity will begin Friday.
People are needed to cut and plant white potatoes, and some have already signed up.
Groups of students from Gardner-Webb University will cut seed potatoes at Shelby Farm and Garden Supply on Market Street in Shelby beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Starting at 4 p.m. on Sunday, the youth group of Shelby First Baptist Church will cut potatoes on Washington Street in Shelby.
Volunteers are welcome at all sites and encouraged to bring a knife and Band-Aids.
At the First Baptist site, a few games and activities have been added to liven things up.
Volunteers can have their pictures taken with a 50-pound bag of seed potatoes.
Weather permitting, there will be a potato toss and a potato drawing. Participants will be asked to draw a potato. Deserving entries will be posted in a prominent location, and donations for the project will be accepted.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who do not have enough nutritious food. You can help by volunteering to help or making a donation,” said Doug Sharp, one of the founders of the local Potato Project.
To date, over 10 million pounds of potatoes have been grown and given away.
Co-founder Bill Horn said he is amazed that the joint effort has been so successful.
The project depends on donations, and no potatoes are sold.
While local volunteers usually provide for Cleveland County residents through the Potato Project, last year the program got a boost from a chapter in Moses Lake, Wash.
Volunteers delivered 40,000 pounds of Russet potatoes in June to be distributed locally.
Because that group managed inventory better over recent months, they will not be sharing an overflow, according to Doug Sharp, one of the founders of the local Potato Project.
Want to help?
Donations can be sent to Cleveland County Potato Project, 107 Quail Hollow Drive, Kings Mountain, N.C. 28086.
For more information, call Sharp at 704 472 5128 or email dwsharp428@aol.com.
March 07, 2021 at 10:01PM
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Volunteers help the hungry one potato at a time - Shelby Star
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