Event celebrates CUOC's hydroponic garden

Oct. 27—As Christians United Outreach Center of Lee County looked to increase the ability for clients to find fresh vegetables, they took a unique approach — grow them hydroponically.

On Tuesday, community members, local officials and other guests attended a ribbon-cutting and tour of the four Hydroponic Flex Farms from Fork Farms. The celebration included the many partners in the effort, United Healthcare, Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, Pfizer and CUOC. The center's "Gold" level in the Healthy Pantry initiative was also lauded.

According to statistics, in Lee County, 20.6% of children under 18 are food insecure with 13.5% of residents lacking fresh and affordable foods. The Fork Farms hydroponic systems allow CUOC to grow fresh produce in-house year-round to distribute to families in need.

"We right now are seeing about 755 families a month," CUOC Executive Director Teresa Dew Kelly said. "That translates to about 2,600 individuals that we are actually feeding here at this facility every month. We can't do that partnership to provide all that food without the assistance of our community. We are thankful for all of the partnerships we have."

Before the grant funding for units came in, CUOC had already decided to purchase one.

"We were excited — thinking that was something great that we could get our feet wet," Kelly said. "We started with one until we got the first grant. The first grant came from United Healthcare — that was through a partnership with the Food Bank. We also partnered on another grant with Pfizer here locally. Pfizer was able to fund two units for us with a year's supply for each of those units.

Global Supply Site Leader for Pfizer's Sanford facility John Tucker also spoke about the grants.

"For over 10 years now Pfizer has been partnering with CUOC on programs for residents of Lee County," he said. "We're excited to see the implementation of the hydroponic garden and how it positively impacts the client base with fresh produce grown in-house."

Kelly said the entire project would have likely not started had it not been for CUOC's partnership with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC.

"They have been a tremendous support for our agency for many years," she said. "We've been functioning for about 18 years now and they have been a partner with us almost since the beginning. We have a long relationship."

Sara Clement, health and nutrition director form the Food Bank said she has enjoyed watching CUOC grow.

"We've really enjoyed seeing them move from 'Bronze,' all the way up to the 'Gold' level of the Healthy Pantry Program by giving nutrition education and giving clients a really great shopping experience," she said. "Part of nutrition education is healthy foods and they're proving fresh produce — we love to see an education piece behind the hydroponic garden."

Clement said that clients now have access to herbs and fresh produce all year long through the program.

"We always love partnering with Teresa," Clement said. "She's great to bounce ideas off and she's always great to ask to try new ideas — like the hydroponic garden."

Paige Hales of United Healthcare also spoke about the efforts involved in bringing the hydroponic garden to fruition.

"When I was driving here this morning, I was super excited," she said. "I've never seen a hydroponic apparatus before. This is the coolest thing that I have ever seen."

Hales said United Healthcare looks at projects that are long term and sustainable.

"We have a food desert here — what we're providing is fresh fruits and vegetable and herbs to the community," she said. "I'm so excited we're a part of it."

Kelly said that when they received the hydroponic units, they weren't sure what to do so they turned to the Lee County office of the NC Extension Service.

"We had to learn from scratch how to grow vegetables and herbs," she said. "Those folks under Bill Stone have just been a blessing to us."

She mentioned that extension agents have held tastings and prepared dishes using items at CUOC to show clients how to use them and know what healthy eating is.

"We have always valued our partnership with CUOC and recognized the amazing work that Teresa and her staff do," Bill Stone, Lee County Extension director, said. "I think what's so cool when we think about Cooperative Extension is our mission is about food, family, healthy lifestyles and nutrition. It's all being covered with what you are doing. We're thrilled to partner with you. We are so excited. Our goal is to bring fresh produce to our folks in the community that most need it. What an amazing way to do that — to have fresh foods grown hydroponically and sustainably. Thank you for being the great partner that you are and allowing us to be a part of it."