Gena Agnew and a group of volunteers from First United Methodist Church and First Baptist Church were busy filling up new garden beds that were recently installed at the Action Ministries-Rome food pantry this weekend, hoping to help those who need food assistance each month eat healthier food.

The boxes — installed by the Comcast Cares team last weekend — were filled with a variety of vegetable plants to comprise the summer gardens that will provide the fresh produce for food pantry consumers. Featured in the community gardens this year are runner and butter beans, okra, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, corn, tomatoes and basil for helping to keep bugs off of the tomatoes.

In the autumn the crops will be rotated out with greens and spinach for the winter. “We had three beds last year with peppers, peas and tomatoes and greens in the fall,” Agnew said. “And William Davies told us that they wanted to expand and add more beds this year to provide more produce.”

Pantry Operations Coordinator Cathy Aiken-Freeman said Saturday the produce grown and harvested in the summer and fall will end up on the dinner tables of their consumers. To help families who might not be used to cooking as much with fresh produce, the pantry will provide recipe cards to go along with the fresh-grown food.

“Last year was an experiment,” she said. “One that was hugely popular and hugely appreciated. This year we’re going to continue that experiment and try to help everyone eat healthier throughout the year.”

Action Ministries-Rome distributes food from three locations in Rome and serves thousands throughout the year. For more information about how to help, visit http://rome.actionministries.net.