Sycamore company grows volunteers, and food, for Earth Day

SYCAMORE – In a nod to Earth Day, multiple Ideal Industries employees spent Monday afternoon planting dozens of crops for DeKalb County Community Gardens which eventually will turn into food consumed by locals in need.

Adam Roach, 38, normally oversees the logistics of Ideal Industries’ distribution. On Monday, however, he spent time with his hands in the dirt. It was part of Ideal Industries’ Earth Day employee volunteer event.

“We’re out here volunteering. Ideal gives us the opportunity to do different community events to give back and we’re helping do that with DeKalb Community Gardens,” Roach said. “It’s a beautiful day, we’re able to spend it outside, celebrate Earth Day by giving back, planting some plants and showcasing the values of our organization as well.”

Those values will directly benefit DeKalb County Community Gardens. The countywide nonprofit operates a mobile food pantry and also grows much of its own produce, traveling around the area to provide access to healthy and sustainably grown food for those suffering from food insecurity.

The Gardens’ mobile pantry is open to all, no questions asked. The Gardens also operates a Community Food Hub in Genoa which provides home-cooked meals.

“It’s very fulfilling, it helps us do something for the community, but also makes you feel better about yourself too, knowing that you give back.”

—  Adam Roach

Heather Edwards, executive director of DeKalb County Community Gardens, said the kale, broccoli and cabbage Ideal employees planted on a 1.5-acre garden on Monday will be ready for consumption in about two months.

“Once this product, once these veggies are ready, then they’ll get harvested and they’ll go out on our Grow Mobile trucks, which go throughout the county delivering free perishable and nonperishable goods,” Edwards said.

Maribel Silva, a paralegal for Ideal Industries, said she thinks the volunteer opportunity her employer afforded her on Monday sets them apart from other businesses.

“I think it’s amazing, because they do really do value [community service] and they don’t just talk about it,” Silva said. “This is actually action that they do like giving us these days and then we can take advantage of the time that they give us so that we can contribute. And even though I don’t live here, I still consider this part of my community because I work here.”

Roach said he has a bit of a green thumb – from experience gardening at home and working on farms – so he was happy to volunteer for the Earth Day community service effort.

The fact the Sycamore-based company he works for provides volunteer opportunities was a sticking point for him when he was deciding where he wanted to work, he said.

“That’s one of the reasons I decided to work there, the commitment to community, being a family organization, getting to participate as a part of the community is important to most of our employees and also important to Ideal,” Roach said. “It’s very fulfilling, it helps us do something for the community, but also makes you feel better about yourself too, knowing that you give back.”