I am betting that Patrick Harman, Willa Mays and Randy Carda thought this day would never come. “What day is that?” you might ask. It is the day that finally the second Growing High Point “Let’s Grow High Point” is in this column. But perhaps it is very apropos that Growing High Point is the first column of the new year. This “Growing High Point” is not about making High Point bigger, it is about transformation in making the underserved in High Point better, stronger and healthier.
Growing High Point was the brainchild of Patrick Harman. You know Harman as the executive director of the Hayden-Harman Foundation whose focus has been the revitalization of High Point’s Washington Street area. It amazed many when in 2001 Harman set up his office right on Washington Street, where it remains today. Harman is much admired for his work in the underserved area and his continued dedication of making High Point a better place to live for everyone. The revitalization of the Washington Street area, once a thriving hub of activity in High Point, continues to be wide-ranging.
Harman seems to never stop conceptualizing what else he can do for this neighborhood. Growing High Point, with a mission to build a resilient and vibrant local food system, emerged. So, what does this mean? According to Harman, Growing High Point grows “High Point’s urban agriculture footprint with community gardens, urban farms growing produce, many on former vacant lots, a greenhouse on Pershing, Food Hub, an apiary and beekeeping apprentice program and the Growdega, a mobile food market.”
Now we come to the second name that I mentioned, Willa Mays. Harman had enough “on his plate,” so to speak, serving on several High Point boards, among them being a founding member of the Friends of John Coltrane and a very active board member of Forward High Point. Growing High Point although founded by Harman needed its own executive director. Victoria Hensley was hired as the first director, but then she and her husband moved to Asheville.
Fortunately, after a stellar career in nonprofits Mays moved back to High Point to be near her grandchildren. Her work in leadership roles took her from North Carolina to Virginia, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming in organizations such as the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
You may remember Mays from early in her career. She began in High Point with North Carolina’s Keep America Beautiful Campaign. Mays stayed only a year but developed High Point’s first newspaper recycling program and a “keep your (cigarette) butts off the street” campaign. Mays would be a perfect fit for Growing High Point.
Now Mays has been in the role for two years, and Growing High Point is growing. Now we come to the third name I mentioned, Randy Carda, who recently retired from Pinnacle Financial Partners, the presenting sponsor of the “Let’s Grow Gala.” He is a board member, treasurer of Growing High Point and the chair of the “Let’s Grow Gala.” Randy’s wife, Carrie, made the gala’s beautiful table decorations.
The gala was held in the Atrium of the historic JH Adams Inn, a wonderful venue for this event. Wow, there were so many people. I loved meeting the new president/CEO of Forward High Point, Rebekah McGee. Among those sponsoring tables were Mr. “About Town” Jim Morgan and Mary Powell DeLille. There were many health care professionals, including Leigh Ann Venable (my sympathy on the loss of your father), director of High Point Regional Health Foundation, who attended with her husband, Terry, vice president at High Point Market Authority. Also attending was Dr. Steven Rohrbeck and his wife, Kathy; Dr. David Moore and his wife, Leslie; Dr. Lee Bunemann and his wife, Jane; Erin Kline, High Point Medical oncology dietitian, and her husband, Adam; and Sharon Cass, High Point Medical director of capital planning and support services, and her husband, James. City council members Monica Peters and Cyril Jefferson also attended.
Martha Yarborough was there. She spent her New Year’s in Pasadena as she and her friend Maggie Linka traveled to Pasadena as volunteers on the Donate Life America float, “Lifting Each Other Up,” clipping, arranging, or gluing some of the 40,000 floral stems. It won the Sweepstakes Trophy presented to the “most beautiful entry.”
Brown Truck Brewery and Vann York Toyota were other sponsors. A huge congratulations to Greg York as 2023 High Point Enterprise Citizen of the Year! He is so deserving, and I’ll have more about that in another column.
There was so much conversation and a wonderful meal freshly sourced from the urban gardens. Carda spoke, thanking everyone for attending: “Patrick Harman asked me to join the board, and it took me two or three seconds to say yes because Growing High Point is such a great organization.” He added, “People often ask me, ‘Who’s Patrick (Harman)?’ I answer, ‘he is a compulsive do-gooder, one of the finest men I know in terms of commitment to our community, to the often neglected in our community.”
Carda introduced Robert Rogers, Pinnacle Financial Partners’ High Point-area executive. “It is a privilege and honor to be part of this event.” He spoke on how Pinnacle Financial Partners’ mission fits with Growing High Point’s mission to help to transform underserved neighborhoods.
Mays gave credit for the filled room for the gala to Carda. “We have an awesome staff at Growing High Point and an awesome leader in Patrick Harman, who continues to inspire us.” She called up Jose Abreu, who is farm to table manager. Abreu described a new program, Farm Fit, in which residents are mentored on growing their own produce. Farm Nourish is a program Growing High Point started with the Second Harvest Food Bank. There is the youth development program to learn and nourish their way out of poverty.
What can you do to help? Order a produce box for a senior citizen. This is Growing High Point from the ground up!
I am just wondering, “What will Patrick Harman think of next?”
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