Page 7 - Palm City Spotlight - July '24

Palm City Spotlight, Page 7

nonprofit news

House Of Hope Opens

Packing House In Palm City,

Provides More Fresh Produce
To Clients

A fully operational packing house, hydroponic
greenhouses, gardens and an orchard were open for visitors
at a ribbon-cutting event at House of Hope’s Growing
Hope Farm in Palm City in early June.
The packing house has been a major project of the
nonprofit. It uses state-of-the-art equipment to clean
and package fresh produce grown on the farm and other
produce that is gleaned or donated. That produce is then
distributed to House of Hope clients at its four client
choice food pantries and is shared with community food
pantry partners.
“We made it a goal to find ways to improve the
nutritional status of the people we serve, and the packing
house is an important piece of our overall plan,” House of
Hope CEO Rob Ranieri said. “By cleaning and packaging
fresh produce in our own packing house, we are able to
boost the nutritional content of our clients’ diets and even House of Hope staff and volunteers joined members of the Palm City Chamber of Commerce in cutting the ribbon on the new packing
help them to develop a taste for fruits and vegetables.” house at Growing Hope Farm, where fresh produce is cleaned and packaged for House of Hope clients and partner food pantries.
House of Hope sees an additional role for the packing
house: to serve local farmers who would find value in vision in improving nutrition and being entrepreneurial Market next to the farm on Citrus Boulevard in Palm
cleaning and packing their own produce near their farms in its approach. “House of Hope realizes that sometimes City and at the House of Hope Thrift Store on U.S. 1 in
and local markets. “We see this as a service to our farmers people just need a hand up and not a handout, and they are Stuart. Ranieri reminded guests at the event that House of
and also an additional way for House of Hope to earn there for those in need. Martin County is very fortunate to Hope depends on volunteers for its successful operation.
revenue to help support our many community programs,” have House of Hope in our community, empowering our “We’re always looking for people who would like to be
Ranieri said. residents in need with housing, education, life skills and hands-on in helping us harvest, package and distribute
The ribbon-cutting was held in partnership with the even better ways of eating.” fresh food,” Ranieri said. “It’s a volunteer job with very
Palm City Chamber of Commerce. Chamber Executive Fresh produce from Growing Hope Farm is now being tangible rewards.”
Director Missi Campbell praised House of Hope for its sold to the public at the Palm City Farms Produce and For more information about House of Hope, its Growing
Hope Farm and volunteer activities, visit House of Hope’s
website at www.hohmartin.org or call (772) 286-4673.
Book Review from page 6 elephants whose centuries-old pathways in India’s forests
are being surrounded and blocked by construction, yet are
When you consider that large flocks of gulls descend property” … a page of “poop” illustrating four different Treasure Coast
being blamed and punished for “trespassing onto humans’
on St. Peter’s Square when crowds gather to see and hear
the Pope and understand that “droppings” from above are kinds of scat that accompanies a chapter on how to track
bobcat, ocelot, jaguar and mountain lion by identifying
not blessings from heaven, it is clear why the Vatican has their droppings as part of a program to protect these animals Outdoors
hired a Dutchman, Andre Fritjers – who owns the company
Vogelverschrikker (Dutch for scarecrow) – to demonstrate by keeping them apart from human populations … these
his LaserOp Automatic 200, “a sort of monochrome laser as well as others are among the many odd and fascinating The Stuart Sailfish Club
light show. Lasers are silent, seemingly humane, and they issues faced in this book’s pages. Announces Summer-Long
can usually be counted on to unnerve gulls for at least a And not all are about animals. The author devotes one
week … mainly used to dissuade cormorants, gulls, and chapter to dangerous trees, and another to poisonous plants Fishing Tournament
vultures from roosting on structures where someone doesn’t … both species which we now know through scientific
want them – and their droppings – to gather.” evidence to have intelligence and able to wreak havoc on By Jim Weix
Black bears in Aspen, Colo., who take advantage of humans despite our “laws.” The Stuart Sailfish
residents’ ignoring rules to keep trash cans shut tight … Learn and laugh. And join me in the Mary Roach fan club. Club will be having
a Summ er Long
Tournament running July
4th through Labor Day.
They will be working
EVERY SUNDAY | FLAGLER PARK with two other fishing
clubs to provide weigh
9AM-1PM stations in Fort Pierce
and Palm Beach, as well
as Sailfish Marina. This
collaboration is just the beginning of many relationships
Live Music they hope to foster with clubs all over the world.
If you would like to be involved contact Allison at
Fresh Local Produce (772) 888-6337 or Director@StuartSailfishClub.com.
Anglers are having good sailfish and kingfish activity in
Artisanal Foods the 80-foot range. Live bait seems to be producing the most.
Tarpon are moving through the area. They are mainly
Specialty Beverages near shore, so both boat and beach anglers have a chance.

Unique Handcrafted Goods The closest that I ever came to a heart attack was
chasing an 80-pound tarpon, that I hooked, up and down
Kids Market the beach. The fish attracted quite a crowd of admirers. As
they cheered me on, I felt that I needed to catch that fish.
1st & 3rd Sunday Monthly I told the story to Henry, the former owner of the Snook
Nook, who has since passed. That is when he told me his
secret to catching tarpon from the beach if you are beyond
your prime.
He told me to use a ten-pound leader. That way you can
hook the fish, get a couple of jumps, and attract a number
of people cheering you on.
Then the leader breaks and you don’t look like an old
man clumsily chasing a fish up and down the beach.
SCAN TO Editor’s note: Jim Weix is an avid hunter, angler,
LEARN conservationist, as well as an outdoor writer. Jim is
MORE Operated by Stuart Main Street included in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s Hall of
Fame for helping restore thousands of acres of wetlands.
Jim is a broker associate with The Keyes Company. He
can be reached at (772) 341-2941 or by email: jimweix@
A market for growers, crafters, artists & other creators jimweix.com.