Ministry Employees Living Our Mission

Over 900 pounds of fresh produce grown from the Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital “Garden of Giving” garden was donated to St. Vincent de Paul and Soup or Socks food pantries of Marshfield. Ministry Saint Joseph’s Garden of Giving, located on Walnut Street, in Marshfield is going on its third year and run entirely by hospital employees volunteering their time outside of work.

The garden is run by a core committee of employees from Ministry Saint Joseph’s, Elizabeth King, executive assistant, Mary Jane Lipinski, a hospital chaplain, Julie David, revenue cycle/reimbursement coordinator, and Karalee Lamon, transcribing manager, who plan and organize each year’s crops. Mary Jane’s green thumb helps when it comes to planning the garden layout and keeping track of the crop rotation.

Garden of Givingnot only feeds those in need, but it brings coworkers together and is one example of Ministry employees giving back to the community. “It is a great way to network and build relationships with others that you may not interact with on a daily basis within the hospital,” stated King. Employees are notified of work nights via email, but can stop at the garden anytime to lend a hand. The group has a message board located in the hospital garage to let employees know what needs to be done and it is always updated.

Meetings are held in the winter to assess what worked from the current year, plan the following year’s crop layout, and decide what produce to plant. Planting starts before Memorial Day weekend and is a big work night for the group. “I am always amazed at the turn out of employees, it shows great compassion for the community,” Lamon said. Once the seeds are planted the core committee members will monitor the garden and enlist employee help when work needs to be done such as, planting, weeding and harvesting.

This past harvest the garden produced:tomatoes, onions, green peppers, broccoli, cabbage, three varieties of potatoes, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, lettuce, swiss chard, dill, cauliflower, beets, rhubarb, chives, and marigold flowers (helps keep the animals out). “If it were not for the help of all those who volunteered we would not have been able to grow and manage so much fresh produce this year,” stated David.