HARLEM — The planters need attention and the sprouts are all wrong.
It’s supposed to be a new season of renewal at Harlem Grown, an urban farm along West 127th Street east of Lenox Avenue.
“We should be planting. We should be out there with the children getting ready for growing season,” says Tony Hillery, founder and executive director of the organization.
He sees an opportunity for a different kind of growth. He has partnered with FIELDTRIP, a restaurant on Lenox Avenue at 116th Street to provide hot meals to families in Harlem-area shelters. The project also helps save the new business which JJ Johnson started 10 months ago.
“I wasn’t going to close. We can lean on each other and our community,” Johnson said.
They’re used to a grassroots approach to change. With this project, the restaurant has been able to keep employees.
You can donate to the project at their website.
“It’s a win win win,” Hillery says.
