SAYLORSBURG -- A garden in Saylorsburg has grown so large that the owner is giving hundreds of pounds of produce to help food pantries for free.
Jim Capasso of Saylorsburg has a garden that is overflowing, so he’s picking out fresh produce to help the hungry in Monroe County’s west end.
“With all of the rain it was luscious, and green, and the size of the squash we pulled out was just amazing,” said Jennifer Strauch of the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network.
Strauch works at a food pantry near Brodheadsville. She brought Capasso’s yellow squash and zucchini to the 300 or so families she serves.
Many were surprised by the bright selection.
"Yeah it was, especially with it raining out. I didn't expect it to be here,” said Tina Pokojni of Bartonsville.
Strauch says Capasso’s donations, which have come for a couple of years now, truly come from the heart.
"At one point he was in the line at a food pantry, so he knows what a blessing it was to him. So to pass it along as he says is the reason he does this,” said Strauch.
Not an ounce of this squash will go to waste. Anything that isn't distributed to a family at the food pantry ends up going to a soup kitchen in the west end.
Many people in the pantry line are cooking up ideas on how to use the veggies for dinner.
"Cook it, or you can fry it, make casseroles, you can use it in many different ways,” said Donald Smale of Kunkletown.
Capasso tells Newswatch 16 his garden still has plenty more to give. He plans to harvest more squash, bell peppers, green peppers, onions, watermelon, and more.
"It means a lot. I like it. I don't know what else to say but I like it,” said Smale.
It’s leaving folks in the west end with fuller dinner tables and thankful hearts.
