Meet Craig & Jeanine
Driving through our neighborhood, you can't help but notice the small, hand-painted signs of The Table. The signs are markers for a series of urban gardens, often planted on plots of earth that would otherwise go unused. Those adorable signs -- and lush gardens -- are the work of Craig and Jeanine Kopaska Broek, Platt Park residents and parents of two daughters.
Can you explain what The Table is and how it impacts our neighborhood and community?
The Table is a non-profit organization offering community, nourishment, and grace to our neighbors. Most tangibly, The Table is a network of 19 gardens located primarily in Platt Park. The Table brings those with “gardenable” space on mission to provide nourishment, facilitate community, and extend grace. The Table gardens help connect people to their food source and brings nourishment to the food insecure in our community. We, along with our two summer interns, do all of the gardening work in order to 1) donate food to local food banks, 2) sell to our 16 CSA shareholders, and 3) coordinate neighborhood potlucks that are designed to cultivate authentic relationship through meaningful conversation. The idea and passion for the work is derived from our understanding of Christian faith combined with a desire to live out our faith by doing good and adding value to our community.
Are there ways to volunteer for The Table?
Yes! First, if you want to get your hands dirty we have a volunteer page (www.meetup.com/table-garden-volunteers) where we post both volunteer opportunities and dates for The Feast, which is the name for the aforementioned neighborhood potlucks. Second, if you’d like to become a bit more invested, you can volunteer your space upon which we can grow vegetables. Third, we meet weekly with a small group of people who are interested in learning to live out their Christian faith more intentionally.
Can neighbors sign up for your CSA? If so, how and when?
Yes! We’re compiling a wait-list for the 2014 season right now. A share is $500 for 18 weeks of the freshest, most local, organically-grown produce Platt Park has to offer. Anyone with interest can email me to sign up or with any questions (craig.broek@gmail.com).
We asked them to answer a few questions about their wonderful community-driven project.
How long have you lived in Platt Park and how long have you been parents?
We’ve lived in Platt Park since we moved to Denver from northern New Jersey in April 2011. We’ve been parents since September 2009.