Botanic garden marks Mother’s Day with food drive

The Food Bank of Delaware and Delaware Botanic Gardens have been cooperating to help mitigate food insecurity for families in the Delmarva community.

On Mother’s Day, the gardens gave free admission to guests who donated items for the Food Bank of Delaware. More than 1,000 guests visited DBG May 14 and generously donated 2,355 pounds of food for delivery to the Food Bank’s Milford facility.

Ray Sander, DBG president said, “We are happy to share the beauty of the Delaware Botanic Gardens to help the important work of the Food Bank of Delaware. We are very proud of the generosity of our visitors who donated over a ton of essential foods to celebrate Mother’s Day.”

Sheryl Swed, DBG executive director, noted that the Mother’s Day donations augmented the April 22 Earth Day free admission offering by DBG, which attracted 500 guests who donated more than 1,300 pounds of essential foods for the Food Bank of Delaware. “Clearly our guests understand the severity of food insecurity, and they actively support the sense of community being forged by these two community-focused nonprofits,” said Swed.

“We are grateful for the generosity of the botanic gardens,” said Cathy Kanefsky, Food Bank of Delaware president and CEO. “Our community is just incredible and always steps up in a big way to help our neighbors in need. Unfortunately, with high prices due to inflation, so many in our community are struggling to put meals on the table. The continued support of the gardens and its visitors help to stock the shelves of our partner food pantries.”

Delaware Botanic Gardens  is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday to Sunday, at 30220 Piney Neck Road, Dagsboro.

For more information, go to delawaregardens.org.