On Wednesday afternoon, the Yankees continued their eighth annual HOPE Week (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) by recognizing the organization Harlem Grown and its founder, Tony Hillery.
Yankees players Masahiro Tanaka, Andrew Miller, Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, Rob Refsnyder, Austin Romine, Chasen Shreve,Kirby Yates and Richard Bleier visited the Harlem Grown garden and greenhouse on 134th Street, surprising Hillery and a class of kindergarten students from P.S. 125.
Hillery and the children were treated to a salad prep demonstration from Celebrity Chef Andrew Carmellini. Then the group got down in the dirt, planting seeds and doing work in the garden. Additional participants today included hip-hop artists “The Lox” (featuring group members: Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P), Miss New York USA 2016 Serena Bucaj and singer-songwriter Kany Garcia.
During the ceremonies, the Yankees presented a donation to Harlem Grown on behalf of the New York Yankees Foundation.
Yankees Manager Joe Girardi wore a Harlem Grown shirt during his pregame press conference and said of it, “Tony Hillery is a an from New York that had a limo business, and after the recession in 2009, thought it was time to do something different, so he volunteered at P.S. 175 in Harlem, and noticed within a hundred-block radius there were over 50 fried chicken places and there were no salad places. And, being from an area where there are a lot of single mothers, he was concerned about what the kids were eating. Kids couldn’t really afford to eat healthy food.
“There was a lot across from the school, and he was able to reclaim it and start up an urban farm and grow healthy food, vegetables and cherry trees…I guess a few of our players went and helped plant. Obviously, the weather helped because rain with fresh plants is always good.”
Harlem Grown has expanded to include one-on-one mentoring, operation of a hydroponic greenhouse (which produces arugula, kale, Swiss chard and basil among other items), a summer camp, cooking workshops, and training for Harlem parents to learn about urban agriculture. All of the food produced by Harlem Grown is given to the children to take home or sold to local establishments for revenue that is reinvested in the program.
