Produce from the Corners of the Field Garden.

Community Projects

Corners of the Field Garden

No experience is needed to work in the garden. You bring some gloves and your energy. Please contact Allyson Cole-Strauss or Mary Kaneti for information about helping to feed the hungry:

Allyson Cole-Strauss
allysoncolestrauss@gmail.com 
616-406-6536

Mary Kaneti
mcubed4300@gmail.com

Each year, the garden produced over 400 pounds of produce donated to the Temple Emanuel and the Baxter Street Food Pantries.

Family Promise

We provide meals and support to our partner congregation in the Family Promise shelter program, Trinity Lutheran Church, 2700 Fulton St E. For information on how you can help, contact Allyson Cole-Strauss, ‭(616) 406-6536‬ or allysoncolestrauss@gmail.com.

Sacred Grounds Native Pollinator Garden at Ahavas Israel

In March 2020, Congregation Ahavas Israel and All Souls Community Church of West Michigan successfully applied for the National Wildlife Federation’s Sacred Grounds project in Grand Rapids. Sacred Grounds facilitates the development of native plant areas on the grounds of houses of worship. In July 2020, we turned the back patio area into a native pollinator garden and have been adding to it and tending it since. 

The NWF grant also commits us to connect faith and environmental stewardship within the congregation and community. Tikkun olam,our responsibility to repair or heal the world, includes the need to protect God’s creation during the climate emergency. In addition to the native pollinator garden, Ahavas provides food for those in need with our Corners of the Field vegetable garden, and leaves more areas unmowed. Sod grass, with its short roots and matting structure, doesn’t sequester carbon and uses energy for upkeep. Native plants help us sequester carbon, feed pollinators, and create a more sustainable and beautiful sacred space. 

Sacred Grounds offers us a wonderful opportunity for interfaith collaboration. If you are interested in participating in this project or for more information, contact Diane R. (project initiator).

CAI supports the community in which we live. Be a part of it:

• The Center for Community Transformation is a collection of organizations working primarily with young people of color. Their mission is to develop, rebuild, and restore that sector of our city.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Rabbi Krishef at Rabbi@AhavasIsraelGR.org or 616-949-2840.

• The Corners of the Field Garden on the Northeast side of the building grows food for the Temple Emanuel Food bank and the Baxter Community Center.
Contact: Allyson Cole-Strauss, allysoncolestrauss@gmail.com, (616) 406-6536.

• We are a support congregation for the Family Promise of Grand Rapids, helping Trinity Lutheran church feed families who find safe shelter in the church about four times a year.
Contact: Allyson Cole-Strauss, allysoncolestrauss@gmail.com, (616) 406-6536.

• We participate in the National Wildlife Federation Sacred Grounds Program with All Souls Congregation, and have devoted a plot of land behind the Social Hall as a native plant and wildlife habitat.
Contact: Diane R.

• We are a member of the Grand Rapids Climate Resolution Coalition, working towards achieving community-wide carbon neutrality for Grand Rapids by 2030.