Loading ...Joshua Van Patten Donates Birthday Money to AGAR
Hunterdon youth donates birthday money to Grow-a-Row
By Hunterdon County Democrat
February 24, 2010, 9:54PM
Chip Paillex, left, president and founder of America’s Grow-a-Row, is handed Joshua Van Patten’s birthday money to support the hunger fighting organization.
Chip Paillex, president and founder of America’s Grow-a-Row, recently accepted Joshua Van Patten’s birthday money to support the hunger fighting organization. Joshua, a student at Crossroads Christian Academy in Clinton, decided that instead of receiving gifts for his birthday, he would ask his friends and family to make a donation to America’s Grow-a-Row. This local organization, formed at the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown, plants, maintains and harvests produce which is donated to food pantries and food banks across New Jersey. Joshua got the idea from his older brother, who did the same thing for another non-profit organization. Joshua also contributed this year by helping other Crossroads students pick over 14,000 pounds of apples in the fall for those in need. For more about the organization, visit americasgrowarow.org or call 908-331-2962.
Gov. Christie Recognizes Chip Paillex as an “Everyday Hero”
TRENTON — In the middle of his inaugural speech, Gov. Chris Christie singled out a few New Jersey residents he called heroes. The governor called out the honored residents one at a time and asked them to stand up for recognition. The citizens were chosen to attend the ceremonies because of their community service, Christie said.Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerNewly sworn in Gov. Chris Christie waves to the crowd after taking the oath of office at the Trenton War Memorial this afternoon.”These folks are just a few examples of what New Jerseyans are all about,” he said. “When faced with tough problems, you choose hard work over giving up. You rise to the challenge, you don’t shrink from it. For all of us on this stage we must now resolve to use all of you as our example. We in office must not shrink from the challenge, we must rise to it.”
Intro for 69 News Story
“The economy is making it hard for many families to put food on their tables, that’s why a group in New Jersey is putting in time on some local farmland.” See the report by Eve Tannery from WFMZ, 69 News in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.
Shop-Rite Gleaning Program
NJN News covers the very successful Shop-Rite gleaning program on their September 29th, 2008 broadcast.
Readers Digest applauds Chip’s work
“A mortgage banker, Chip Paillex had never planted so much as a window box until he moved to rural Pittstown, New Jersey, seven years ago. Sur- rounded by working farms, he quickly caught the grow-it-yourself bug and leased a 30-by-30-foot plot. One weekend, he planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and eggplant—enough to feed his family of four for the summer, or so he thought.
He ended up with so much pro- duce, he couldn’t give it away. But he found a local food pantry, and by the time he delivered his last harvest, he had donated 120 pounds of fresh vegetables.”
Beautiful article about America’s Grow-a-Row and its beginnings
“Every year at harvest time I face the same question: What to do with the surplus? The garden that had once looked tiny and tidy had morphed into a giant vegetable-producing machine. So, like other home gardeners I know, I gave them away to friends and family.
Unlike me,Chip Paillex found a better way. He thought of his abundance the blessings that had been bestowed upon him-and then he thought of others.”
Download PDF of the Full Article
Man on a Mission to Help Less Fortunate
“Four years ago, Chip Paillex rented a small plot of land at a Pittstown farm, harvested his produce and donated 150 pounds of surplus corn, cucumbers and squash to the Flemington Area Food Pantry.
Since then, he’s transformed his small act of kindness into a full-scale donation program–dubbed Grow-A-Row–backed by two nearby farms, his church and a fleet of more then 140 volunteers.
For Paillex, a 40-year-old customer development manager, many hands make light work. Especially when that work means picking, boxing and shipping 24,000 pounds of fresh produce to food banks throughout New Jersey.”
Gallery of articles about America’s Grow-a-Row over the past five years available here:
