About Hands On Harvests
Hands On Harvests grew out of a community initiative called Grow a Row FC, which was started in May 2020 to provide more fresh produce to food banks in Fairfax County and Falls Church, Virginia. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis, pantries were experiencing a 400-800% increase in demand. Between May and October 2020, Grow a Row gardeners delivered 2,000 pounds of backyard produce and decided to continue into the next growing season. Hands On Harvests incorporated in July 2021 and received 501(c)(3) status from the IRS in October 2021.
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HOH's mission is to create and and sustain a network of growers producing more fresh fruits and vegetables for Northern Virginians.
We do this by:
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Supporting growers with free seeds, plant starts, and mentorship.
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Making it easy for gardeners and farmers to donate to food banks and other organizations that distribute fresh produce by establishing neighborhood produce drop-off sites and providing free farm-to-food-bank courier service.
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Opening and managing community gardens in Northern Virginia, especially in food-insecure neighborhoods. Hands On Harvests currently manages three community gardens and an urban farm. We will be opening a fourth community garden in 2025.
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EIN:87-1609942
Our Partners and Supporters
Hands On Harvests Board of Directors
Stacey Evers
Chair and Co-founder
Stacey has centered her professional life around community building, environmental education and sustainable community gardening. She is the former urban agriculture specialist with the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, where she led an effort exploring how to facilitate more local food production. She's seen first-hand how gardening connects children and adults positively to food and the environment, and believes that everyone's pantry should be filled with fresh, affordable food that they want to eat.
Amanda Stamp
Vice Chair
Amanda has over 15 years of experience working with non-profits, specializing in global citizenship education and education for sustainable development. Her work focuses on building community and partnerships, developing impactful education and training programs, and non-profit management. Amanda is an avid gardener and spends her free time with her hands in the soil, building her knowledge of regenerative farming, and sharing her passion for growing food with others. She believes that having access to fresh, nutritious food is a human right for every person and can be done through sustainable methods.
Mike Boylan
Treasurer
Mike is a CPA who brings more than 25 years of financial leadership experience across financial planning and analysis, accounting, and corporate strategy. Mike believes that strong financial stewardship empowers nonprofits to maximize their impact, and he’s proud to support Hands On Harvests' mission. Having lived in Northern Virginia for over 30 years, Mike is passionate about expanding community gardening and increasing access to fresh, healthy food throughout the region.
Marlena Quiles-Kwock
Secretary
Grow A Row, Fairfax, lead
Marlena grew up in Centreville and spent a lot of time in her childhood in her mother and grandparents' gardens. She loved helping her mom grow beautiful ornamental flowers; gardening for her grandparents was a way to connect with their homeland, China, and culture. Marlena attended the Virginia Governor's School for Agriculture program in high school and has always held serving her community as a core value. Marlena started with HOH as a Grow a Row volunteer and, while living in Charlottesville, was part of .the wonderful Bread and Roses team at Trinity Episcopal Church that grew a variety of produce and flowers, which was donated to local pantries. Now back in NoVA, Marlena is excited to expand and deepen the Grow a Row community in Fairfax County and support HOH as secretary.
Arturo Lopez
Director
Arturo is a semi-retired mechanical engineer working for one of the US Navy’s research labs in the DC area. He's been involved for 30+ years with the Annandale Christian Community for Action (ACCA), where his work has primarily focused on serving as a food pantry volunteer. His engagement with the food pantry and its needs evolved into taking over and expanding the food pantry’s vegetable garden. The produce harvested from this garden supplements the ever-growing needs of the pantry. In the past few years, Arturo has been reaching out and engaging with like-minded non-profits throughout Northern Virginia to ensure fresh produce and donations can be effectively distributed to each non-profit’s clients. One such organization Arturo has partnered with is HOH, which has been instrumental in helping to expand ACCA food pantry's vegetable garden by providing seeds and gardening advice. He has since grown to admire the group and is honored to be a part of the organization.
Heather Olsen
Director
Grow A Row, Prince William lead
Heather has returned to NoVA after nearly eight years of moving around the country with her active-duty husband. Throughout her travels, the only consistency has been putting roots down (literally) and learning more about providing a sustainable future for the next generation. She resides now in Prince William County and has already broken ground on her family garden. With over a decade of leadership experience across multiple industries, Heather has mentored within the corporate sphere, cultivated partnerships, and volunteered heavily within the military community. She believes that creating opportunities for a more equitable and resilient community is always best started within your own backyard.
Julie Carpenter
Director
Co-lead, Community Gardens program
Julie Carpenter is a lawyer whose 32 years of litigation practice have included many hours with non-profit organizations and corporate governance. She has worked with clients on compliance issues as well as partnership development. She has been a gardener longer than she has been a lawyer. Julie grows mostly vegetables and fruits, puts them up for the winter, and hates food waste. She also focuses on native plants to help rebuild habitat for all her neighbors. As a Master Gardener and a volunteer in several community gardens, Julie believes strongly that gardening feeds the body and the soul, that everyone can and should have fresh and delicious food to eat, and that eating sustainably begins with connecting food to the place it comes from. She is delighted to join the mission and work of Hands On Harvests.
Lauren Washburn
Director, Development
Lauren Washburn has over 10 years of hospitality and event management experience. Her career focus is on leading cross-functional teams and mentoring emerging managers. She became a volunteer for Hands On Harvests in 2023 through supporting the grand opening of the Eileen Garnett Civic Space demonstration veggie garden, collecting donations for the event and engaging in community outreach. Lauren is a big believer in eating for wellness and is learning how to garden from Hands On Harvests’ mentorship to experience all the health benefits associated with gardening.
Hands On Harvests Program leadership
Joyce Matthews
Schools liaison and FarmBot lead
Mary Kent
EGG Management Team
Jo Doumbia
Lori Chaplin
Maryanne Fontaine
Mary Jo Provenzano
Melony Price-Rhodes
Tom Wirth
