About 250 people attended the SEEDS Harvest Dinner Oct. 9, including SEEDS community gardeners, SEEDS organizers, participants in the DIG program and community members. Attendees enjoyed food from over 20 local restaurants, a silent auction with items and experiences donated by various Durham establishments and a live band. Staff photo by Jordan Bailey
When Brenda Brodie founded SEEDS – South Eastern Efforts Developing Sustainable Spaces – in 1994, she was hoping to bring the community together through a mutual love of food.
SEEDS co-founder Brenda Brodie, left, chats with community gardeners Sue Willis and Bernard Obie following the Harvest Dinner. Brodie co-founded the organization with the daughter of a friend in 1994. (Staff photo by Jordan Bailey)
“I had always had in my mind that I wanted to do some community gardening because I felt that it crossed all barriers,” Brodie said. “It brought people together for a beautiful reason, to celebrate the earth and the good things that grow out of the earth.”
SEEDS, a non-profit community gardening organization, initially worked with the homeless community in Durham, but Brodie said the organization eventually felt its impact would be greater if it served a more educational role.
“We felt that if we taught the young, they’d go home and teach their parents,” Brodie said. “I think that model is a very strong one.”
Brodie was able to see the true legacy of the organization’s 20 years at the SEEDS annual Harvest Dinner fundraiser on Oct. 9 when Durham resident and SEEDS parent Iketia Bennett spoke to the 250 attendees about the impact SEEDS has had on her family.
“It’s amazing to me how I see my kids grow and blossom at SEEDS,” said Bennett, whose children spend every day after school at SEEDS.
“They’re being taught and they come home and teach me when I can’t be at SEEDS. It’s amazing – them learning at an early age to grow their own food … these children will never ever go hungry.”
Bennett was one of three speakers who spoke at the Harvest Dinner about the influence SEEDS has had on participants’ personal lives. Javonte Carter, a youth leader in the Durham Inner-city Gardeners (DIG) program, spoke on how SEEDS has helped him develop leadership skills, and SEEDS volunteer Karimah Abdusamad discussed the sense of community that SEEDS provides.
High school student and DIG youth leader Javonte Carter delivers a speech about how SEEDS has impacted his life to Harvest Dinner attendees. In his speech, Carter said he lives by the slogan “Work hard, but work smart. Be friendly, but not too friendly,” which he learned from SEEDS. Staff photo by Jordan Bailey
This year’s Harvest Dinner celebrated the 20th anniversary of SEEDS with a silent auction, food from more than 20 local restaurants, and live music at The Pavilion at Durham Central Park.
Brodie said the first Harvest Dinner was held in 2004 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of SEEDS, and the organization has been holding the fundraiser annually ever since.
Emily Egge, the executive director at SEEDS, said that in the initial years of the dinner, the fundraiser raised anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000. This year, however, the fundraising goal was $40,000. Egge said that at the start of the Harvest Dinner, the organization was close to meeting its fundraising goal and was confident it would reach it once silent auction purchases were factored in.
Egge said she feels the Harvest Dinner is an effective fundraiser for SEEDS because it reflects the organization’s values.
“I’m always a believer in events that reflect your organization and mission,” Egge said.
“For us it will always be important that the food that we serve is supporting local chefs and is locally sourced and seasonal, and that the mood and the tone (of the event) provides people an opportunity to learn about SEEDS and really understand our mission. And I think (the Harvest Dinner) does a pretty good job of that.”
Among the attendees were SEEDS community gardeners, participants in the DIG program, community members and SEEDS organizers.
Andresha McPhaul, a 16-year-old member of the DIG program, has been involved with SEEDS since she was in 2nd grade. She said she started out in the seedlings program for young children and remained involved with SEEDS because she supports the organization’s mission.
“SEEDS impacts the community in a good way,” McPhaul said. “They’re giving people knowledge and making people aware of problems that they might not know about … then they can go and do whatever they want with that knowledge.”
Lawrence Fields, another 16-year-old participant of the DIG program, said the knowledge he’s gained from SEEDS has helped to shape him as a person.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Fields said. “It’s changed my life. It changed my perspective on food and community relationships. It changed me for the better.”