Just weeks after breaking ground on The Community Hub garden at Bread of Life Deliverance Church in Charlotte's Hidden Valley, good things are already sprouting up.
The organizer of the garden project is Charles Robinson, executive director of The Community Hub.
Recently, Robinson received a phone call from the producers of “Returning The Favor,” a reality web series on Facebook Watch. It follows Mike Rowe as he travels across the United States in search of people who are giving back to their communities.
Friday, the program sent out a crew to interview Robinson about the garden project.
“I’m not too sure how this happened, but it was a blessing,” Robinson said.
What happened was that, along with the interview, Returning The Favor gave Robinson a truckload of garden accessories, plants, trees and $20,000 to continue to build the garden and add features.
“I thought I was just doing an interview, and I had no idea that this is what they were going to gift us,” Robinson said. “This is simply amazing. I’ve always wanted to meet Mike Rowe, and I just couldn’t believe, there he was.”
The garden addresses food insecurity in the community, providing fresh vegetables to seniors, and helping adults put nutritious meals on the table for themselves and their children.
“I went to Charles and asked him if he could help build us a garden,” said Lottie Howell, pastor of Bread of Life Deliverance Church.
With the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte, large numbers of families live in hotels in the area around the garden.
The Community Hub is working toward a common goal, Robinson said, of neighbors getting to know each other better, seniors working with the younger generation of Hidden Valley, and an overall lifting of spirits in the neighborhood.
"I just thank God we're being used to be part of it," Robinson said.
Returning The Favor brought apple, cherry, lemon and lime trees, shrubs, flowers, tools, mulch and a barbecue grill big enough to take care of the entire neighborhood.
“This church and this hub is an outreach to say, 'this is your community,'” Howell said. “'We are your family. Since we’re family, we stick together in the good times, bad times, hard times, down times and we hang in there.'”
The garden also is a way to put control back in the hands of residents, she said.
“This plan is blossoming and this garden is a step for The Community Hub,” Robinson said. “We’re going to have a playground that is accessible for the kids who live in nearby hotels who don’t have a safe place to play.”
As Robinson referenced the death of George Floyd and the protests going on across the country, he said that he needs to continue with his personal mission to improve the community.
“Even in the midst of a storm, new things will rise up out of it,” he said. “We’re going to change Charlotte.”
If you have an inspiring story to share, email Kevin Campbell, WSOC-TV/WAXN-TV/Telemundo Charlotte public affairs manager, at Kevin.Campbell@wsoctv.com.
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