Anne-Laurie Elescar

Everyday people think of what they are going to eat for their next meal. For some, that thought is stressful. Everett Community Growers is helping to ease that stress but several factors are getting in their way. If we, the people of Everett, stand with our organizations, we will help Everett become better.

Everett Community Growers is a non-profit organization that grows healthy food for the citizens of Everett. Most people in the city don’t know about them or how they operate. However, in recent times, the organization is facing more struggles than ever and needs some help.

Lenka McNally, the organization’s manager, states that food insecurity is a common struggle among Everett citizens. Food insecurity is a constant worry about whether or not food is available to you and your household.

Since Everett does not have a supermarket in the city, some citizens struggle with getting food. Worrying about how much food is at home and when your next meal is going to be is tiring for anyone to experience. ECG also takes SNAP and food stamps which allow vulnerable populations to have healthy food.

According to the people that work there, the mayor of Everett hasn’t shown much support to the Everett Community Growers. In 2024, the mayor shut down the farm on Broadway without alerting Lenka or the workers. This has forced them to move all their gardening to their Northern Strand farm, which leaves them less space to grow food, sell their produce, and help citizens of Everett.

ECG has sent out a petition to their workers, volunteers, and funders to discourage the major of Everett from taking more of their land. If citizens come together and protest against the removal of ECG’s garden land, this can help everyone in Everett.

Everett Community Growers impacts more than just people who need food. ECG is run by immigrants in a city full of immigrants. Lenka understands how important the taste of home–of something familiar–is in a foreign land.

They plant foods that are found in cuisines all over the world, like Indian cucumbers and Hispanic peppers. The nonprofit hires teenagers to help them pull weeds, plant seeds, and attend meetings.

They help teenagers get job experience and gain awareness of what happens in their very own city. Everett Community Growers attends meetings with other nonprofits to help fight against common issues in Everett such as unaffordable housing and food deserts.

Everyday people think of what they are going to eat for their next meal. For some, that thought is stressful. Everett Community Growers is helping to ease that stress but several factors are getting in their way. If we, the people of Everett, stand with our organizations, we will help Everett become better.