DAYTON, Ohio — Since its first harvest in December, Dayton Foodbank Inc.’s Beverly K. Greenehouse produced thousands of heads of lettuce and other greens to feed families in need.
It’s enough to fill Charlie Greene, the namesake’s son, with pride and awe every time he walks into the 6,000 ft. hydroponic facility. That’s why he wants to ensure he can provide a way to keep it running while honoring her legacy in a new way through a plant nursery called Tadmor Greenes.
Until recently, Greene never considered himself much of a gardener. But when he moved back to Dayton three years ago to help his mother through cancer treatment, the two started volunteering at the Marianist Environmental Education Center and fell in love with native plants.
“It was a therapy that helped distract my mom going through cancer treatments,” he said. “That was a way to get us through those tough situations and just get us through our life."
It was the same year the Memorial Day tornadoes ripped through the Dayton area, and Greene’s father, who worked near Dayton’s Foodbank, saw the dire need in their community.
“The lines going through the drive-through were down the street,” Greene said. “A lot of people lost everything.”
The Greene family got in touch with the Foodbank to see how they could help not just meet the region’s urgent need, but provide a long-lasting, sustainable change. That’s when they started working to develop and fund the Beverly K. Greenehouse.
“This is the embodiment of my mother and this is her legacy of doing what was right for people and doing what was right for the community,” Greene said.
The facility opened two years after her death, but Greene said he sees his mother’s fingerprints on everything the greenhouse does.
“She may not have been able to see the final product, but I know she has,” he said.
Donations from the Greene family and the community in Beverly’s honor funded the greenhouse’s construction and initial harvest, but to keep the facility running Greene wanted to ensure there would be a permanent funding source. He thought a native plant nursery would be a fitting companion business.
“You know, it’s things that we all have in common — our favorite plants and the food that we share with our loved ones,” he said.
Tadmor Greenes is named for his family and the street where he grew up. He did a soft launch of the business in the fall, selling native plants he grew through the lessons he learned at MEEC. After raising more than $2,000 over two sales, Greene said he began to see a future in this small business.
“Everything just seemed to fall into place,” he said.
Greene plans to start selling regularly every Sunday at Dayton’s 2nd Street Market, starting on May 1. Half of the proceeds from Tadmor Greenes’ sales he plans to donate back to the Beverly K. Greenehouse to cover its operating expenses.
“I never thought of myself, starting something as big as this and when I look back from where we started, I wanted to see something develop into a program for the community,” he said.