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MISSOULA — The Missoula Bank and Community Center helps thousands of families each year.

Among other resources, they offer nonperishable food, and also fresh fruits and vegetables.

The food bank has an organic garden in the back of the building located at 1720 Wyoming Street called the Missoula Food Bank's Roots Garden. It's where tomatoes, raspberries, basil, lettuce, and peppers are some of the plants growing in their soil.

The fresh produce is then distributed back to the food bank for anyone in need.

Produce is the food bank's most in-demand item which is why the Missoula Food Bank started a program encouraging people to exercise their green thumb to help others.

"I grew up on an organic farm. Actually, my dad's a farmer, said local gardener Olivia Kersey-Bronec who says she's always looking for ways to share her harvest.

"I grow a garden each year," she said. "And there's always an abundance of some crop that I maybe have too much of that eat all of. My dad used to say that one zucchini plant is half a zucchini plant too many…"

If you also like to garden fresh produce and end up with too much, you might be interested in Grow-a-row. It's the Missoula Food Bank's new program where Missoula residents donate their homegrown goods to the Food Bank.

"The Grow a Row program came out of a desire from our customers to have more fresh fruit and produce in the store," said Claire Bonino-Britsch, the Missoula Food Bank events, and marketing coordinator. "It's one of our number one, most requested items to supplement all the non-perishables that we have in our food bank store."

Bonino-Britsch told MTN News that Grow a Row is a simple way to get your hands dirty for a good cause, which is helping keep fresh produce stocked at the food bank.

"They can grow whatever they want," Bonino-Britsch explains. "If they’ve got one potted plant growing herbs or an entire garden that they are hoping to fill up with plants, we welcome anything that people are willing to grow."

If you don't know how to start, the local gardener says there are two plants best for beginners.

"If you’re just working with a pot, tomatoes are really great for growing in pots and they are also very prolific, and having a fresh tomato is just delicious," Kersey-Bronec said. "And then if you have a smaller area, I would suggest maybe something like arugula or lettuce, something that can be a little more packed in that you could just have fresh greens whenever you want it or whenever you want to donate it."

The food bank gives out free seeds and starter plants for local gardeners who want to donate. It's made possible through their community partnerships with Seedlings for Solidarity, Garden City Harvest who provide seeds, and other local organizations.

Anyone can get involved in the Grow a Row program by signing up at MissoulaFoodBank.org.

"Everyone deserves healthy, high quality, fresh, local, organic if possible, produce. No matter if they’re food secure or food insecure, we all do and I’m grateful that I get to be a part of this program and provide fresh produce for the people of Missoula," Kersey-Bronec said.