By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
There’s always a need for volunteers at the Geneseo-Atkinson Food Pantry, and most of those volunteers fulfill indoor responsibilities. It’s a bit different this time of year at the local food pantry as there is a need for volunteers to tend to the outdoor vegetable garden beds.
According to Nicole Freadhoff, assistant director at the Geneseo-Atkinson Food Pantry, volunteers are needed to plant, tend, and harvest the garden, from the end of April through Harvest time…”Interested volunteers may choose the days and times they want to volunteer and they can bring a friend to help!”
Anyone interesting in helping is asked to contact Nicole Freadhoff at 309-944-3165 or email geneseopantry1@gmail.com.
Donations of dirt, plants, and seeds are welcome, although seeds donated by Blain’s Farm & Fleet already have been started inside by volunteers.
The garden was designed and planted by Bee Scheider, as a Girl Scout Gold Award project in 2025. Scheider provided a compost tumbler, planted the garden, and created an instructional binder for future garden volunteers.
Freadhoff said there also is a need for indoor volunteers on Mondays, from 12:30 to 4 p.m. and from 4 to 7 p.m.
Bee Scheider
AND MEET THE GIRL SCOUT GARDNER
It was a goal of Bee Scheider’s to complete all of the high scouting awards from bronze to gold, and that goal was accomplished with the raised garden beds in place at the Geneseo-Atkinson Food Pantry.
Scheider’s parents are Jeff and Audrey Scheider.
The young gardener, a senior at Geneseo High School, has been in scouts for 13 years, having become involved as a kindergartner, and now a member of Troop 5828.
When asked about the raised garden beds at the food pantry, Scheider said, “I went with raised garden beds because I wanted to provide a source of fresh vegetables to families and community members for free, regardless of socioeconomic status. I worked with the food pantry who connected me to a non-profit in Peoria who provided the bed structures made form old shipping pallets. We brought those back in the food pantry van (Clifford the Big Red Van, and we stacked them to a universally-accessible height. I filled the insides with sticks and leaves from the Izaak Walton League’s (Geneseo) spring cleanup, before topping it with soil provided by CD Ford & Sons, Inc., Geneseo. I’m very grateful for everyone who donated to this project.”
Scheider constructed the beds last spring, just in time for planting.
Photos from 2025 of the raised garden beds at the Geneseo-Food Pantry, which now are in need of volunteers to tend to them.
“I had help along the way from my family and friends, members of the community such as the Izaak Walton League, and food pantry volunteers throughout the process from planning to planting and harvesting and winterizing.”
Scheider continues to be involved with caring for the garden and recently helped organize seeds at the food pantry in preparing for “planting day… “I also did a lot of work the first time around to make it easier, like a crop rotation guide to show where to plant everything.”
“I hope the community takes over the project and that people go to the garden to help pull weeds, water or harvest produce to give back to the community, as the produce is for anyone in the community,” Scheider added.
“While I’d like to continue volunteering as an adult, I plan to be focused on my studies in college,” Scheider said. “After high school, I’m, planning to attend the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to major in pre-veterinary medicine and animal sciences, before hopefully going on to earn a doctorate of veterinary medicine.”