Shining Light Garden Foundation supporters enjoyed a delicious farm-to-table dinner at Osceola Bistro last Tuesday evening, raising funds and celebrating eight years of helping to feed the hungry “one garden at a time.”
Shining Light got its start in 2008 when Joel Bray began raising crops in his backyard to give healthy, fresh vegetables to those who did not have access or funds to purchase them. The project has since grown to incorporate 20 acres, including a flower garden to provide cheerful bouquets to brighten the rooms of patients at VNA Hospice House.
Volunteers Sherry Leard and Diane Titherington used some of the garden florals to create quaint handcrafted centerpieces using varied perennials in mason jars set atop white linen cloths at tables in Osceola’s garden patio and dining room.
“Joel is the farmer and Greg is the charmer,” said event organizer Connie Derman. She was speaking of Bray and Greg Vafiades, who has been on board since 2010 and is in charge of finding funds to keep the farm solvent.
“At first it was Joel by himself and then it was Joel, Mr. Ralph Hamilton (now deceased) and me, with a few shovels and a handful of volunteers. We did every kind of veggie you can think of and it all went to soup kitchens, food pantries and churches,” said Vafiades. “Everything is donated. Some of the food is even cooked up by our volunteers and we deliver it to the families living in the woods. This is a non-profit that is 100 percent giveaway, 100 percent volunteer. There are no salaries. Every dime stays in the garden for farm tools, seeds and supplies and everything goes out to the hungry.”
The garden, which does not sell any of its harvest, has supplied more than 16,000 bushels of produce since its inception, thanks to support from the community. It received a major boost in 2014 through a $100,000 Impact 100 grant.
“It is overwhelming,” said Bray, a former construction worker turned farmer who admits he is still learning every day. “It’s just a blessing to be a blessing to others. We feed a lot of people and meet so many good people who are willing to volunteer from all across the United States. The reason I do what I do is because I love God and this is my reasonable service.”
Chef Chris Bireley is a proponent of farm fresh produce, purchasing the majority of Osceola Bistro’s from Osceola Organic. Soon after visiting Shining Light he and wife Charlotte chose to make it their main charity.
“Charlotte and I decided that we wanted to form one very strong relationship above all the others,” said Bireley, adding that they liked the idea of having their farm-to-table profits return to the farm to feed the homeless. “To me that made the most sense.”
The Bireleys were so committed that they asked wedding guests to bypass gifts and give to Shining Light instead, and they have also opted to close the restaurant to the public the past three years – in the height of season – to host the fundraising dinner.