Spreading the seeds of change: Marsha Shonk and Joshua Donohew.
Last month we reported on the terrific story of Marsha Shonk, an AmeriCorps VISTA for the town of Whitesville who has been dubbed the “Seed Queen,” thanks to the remarkable success of her new seed donation program.
To recap: Seeing many people out of work and wanting to help improve their community in some small but measurable way, Marsha asked seed companies for donations of seeds. The project garnered over $13,000 worth of seeds, many of which were spread far and wide in Whitesville. Things are now green and growing there.
But that is not where the story ends. Marsha wanted to share the fruits of her labor. And so the remaining seeds are now on their way to Ripley, a fellow Turn This Town Around community, through Marsha’s VISTA colleague in Ripley, Joshua Donohew.
Both Marsha and Josh were placed in their respective communities by the West Virginia Community Development Hub’s excellent VISTA program.
It’s great to see the Turn This Town Around teams collaborating. Marsha’s seeds will be helping Joshua’s food project in Ripley. The phrase “seeds of change” is taking on a whole new meaning at The Hub!
maybe there’s room for more refugees in many of these dying smaller towns as well??? Do any of them have financial resources to help rebuild these crumbling towns?
Harrison County has a seed exchange program. It began with a few Master Gardeners and the Southern Area Library in Lost Creek. In 2016 it expanded to all the public libraries in the county and Doddridge County, too.