Potluck Dinner at Village Winery Will Benefit Community Garden at Helix

Organizers of a community garden at Helix Charter High School will share details of its new campus location when the city and school hold a potluck dinner Wednesday night in The Village.

The garden’s proposed site is no longer on a slope behind a baseball field, according to Charles Anacker, one of the supporters.

“The new location has easy access from the street,” Anacker said Wednesday. “It is on Lowell Street, south of University. The initial garden space will be about 1/8 acre or 5,570 square feet.”

Anacker said a drawing of the new garden site will be at a 6 p.m. fundraiser at San Pasqual Winery Tasting Room and Gallery at 8364 La Mesa Blvd.

“Perhaps a preliminary design of the garden space [will be available] as a starting point for dialogue with the community members who are participating in the Joint Use Community Garden of La Mesa and Helix Charter School,” he said.

Judy Jacoby, La Mesa Community Garden coordinator, said the potluck dinner, will include a seasonal cooking demonstration.

The event will also feature an opportunity drawing, “where for a small donation each participant will have a chance to win one of many great gifts and services donated by community members and local businesses,” Jacoby said.

Participants are asked to bring a potluck dish to share or just drop by for a glass of wine or to make a donation to win a prize.

Tickets for the drawing are by donation and individuals can choose the items that they want to win by depositing the tickets into containers for each item, Jacoby said, and the winning tickets will be drawn for each item separately.

Winners do not have to be present to win. Wine as well as nonalcoholic beverages will be sold with 20 percent of the proceeds being donated to the Community Garden by San Pasqual Winery.                  

“This garden is a wonderful opportunity to create a living demonstration of what a community working together can accomplish,” she said.

San Diego County Health and Human Services is partially funding this project, including support for planning and designing the garden, first unveiled as a concept in August.

In addition, “Live Well and Thrive” funding awarded to La Mesa allowed the city to provide some additional funding for construction.

But additional sources of funding from cash donations, in-kind contributions, and fundraising events are needed to make the garden a reality, she said.