Before Katy ever joined the Resurrection Missions team, she had the vision.
While praying about whether to apply for a missions role at Resurrection West, she felt a nudge she couldn’t shake — a garden, on church land, growing food for neighbors in need and bringing generations of the congregation together to tend it.
She got the job. And then the first obstacle showed up almost immediately: there was no place to put the garden.
But that’s where Stan and Tracy came in. They had land — ten acres of it — and a dream that matched Katy’s almost exactly. They offered it to the church, and what happened next is what Katy calls an explosion.
Four years later, the Giving Garden has donated over ten tons of produce to people experiencing food insecurity across the Kansas City area. Volunteers show up season after season to plant, tend, and harvest. The Resurrection food mobile carries fresh fruits and vegetables directly into the hands of neighbors who need them most.
But ask anyone who has spent time out there and they’ll tell you the produce is almost secondary.
“It’s just a palpable feeling of love,” Katy says. “The nature, the sun, the people — everything about it is just beautiful.”
That’s what happens when a leap of faith meets a community willing to show up. A garden that started as a quiet dream is now feeding thousands — and building something just as nourishing along the way.
If you’ve ever volunteered at the Giving Garden, even once, you’ve been part of something bigger than you know.
Interested in getting involved? Visit our Local Missions page to learn about upcoming volunteer opportunities.
