Thursday, October 1, 2026
For the past three years, the garden at Temple B’nai Torah, in Wantagh, has helped people with special needs develop valuable vocational skills — and the plants they grow are donated to a good cause.
Every Tuesday from May through November, volunteers in the temple’s garden learn the basics of growing vegetables and herbs. The project is a partnership between the temple and AHRC Nassau, a Brookville-based nonprofit that supports children and adults with developmental disabilities across Nassau County.
Behind the initiative is Carol Meyerson, a temple member and an employment training specialist at AHRC who, three years ago, sought opportunities in the community where people could volunteer as a step toward full-time employment. The garden, Meyerson said, offered meaningful volunteer work in the form of hands-on tasks that people with special needs could learn.
“We thought this would be a perfect marriage,” Meyerson said, “and it’s really extraordinary in what they learned in the three years.”
Also helping lead the initiative is Rona Kauffman, co-chair of the temple’s Social Action/Social Justice Committee, which focuses on supporting community members in need. The garden was created in the summer of 2020, Kauffman said, to help address food pantry shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was very hard for those pantries to keep food on the shelves,” she recalled, “and it was even harder to get seeds back then if you wanted to do gardening, so we thought it would be a perfect time to start a garden.”
Temple volunteers transformed an abandoned playground in the parking lot into a quarter-acre garden. Members donated tables and chairs to create a welcoming space for visitors, the temple purchased raised garden beds and volunteers contributed additional materials. Some of the old playground equipment remains, now integrated into the garden, which is sustained through community donations.
Volunteer Susan Salem has helped teach others how to grow and care for the plot. It produces a variety of vegetables and herbs, she said, including carrots, radishes, squash, beets, lettuce, eggplant, turnips, cucumbers, tomatoes and beans, all of which help feed vulnerable families on Long Island.
“Most pantries only have canned goods and boxes,” Salem said, “so we try to grow the best, healthiest foods.”
In its first year, the garden produced more than 1,000 pounds of food. Last year the harvest grew to about 1,600 pounds, and this year it has already surpassed 1,400. All of the produce is donated to local pantries and food organizations, including Island Harvest and Community Solidarity.
Now in its sixth growing season, the garden has become an educational space for both Hebrew school students and people with special needs. Meyerson said that AHRC volunteers range in age from their 20s on up, and new participants join each year. Tasks are assigned based on people’s communication skills, confidence and abilities to ensure that the work is both accessible and rewarding.
One of the AHRC volunteers is Darin, who weighs and records the food before it is donated to pantries. He has been involved in the program for three years, and also helps spread wood chips in the garden with a wheelbarrow.
“I really enjoy weighing,” he said. “I like adding how much the vegetables weigh and writing them down.”
Another three-year veteran volunteer, James, helps cut the grass around the garden and creates mulch by adding leaves to a compost pile — a task that’s earned him a nickname he’s proud of.
“I’ve learned a lot and I love it,” James said. “They call me the mulch king. It breaks down real easily, but it takes time.”
The garden, Kauffman explained, is uniquely suited to teaching people with special needs. A retired school psychologist, she noted that other volunteers bring expertise in environmental education, social work, occupational therapy and special education.
“We have people here who are sensitive to the needs of anybody that has special needs,” Kauffman said, “so it was the perfect fit.”
Meyerson said that AHRC volunteers gain a sense of accomplishment from learning how to grow and maintain the garden, which helps boost their self-esteem while giving the temple an opportunity to support people facing food insecurity.
“This place just means so much to all of us,” Meyerson said. “It’s just a win-win — they’ve gotten so much out of this.”
For Kauffman, watching the AHRC volunteers learn and become friends with the temple members has been rewarding. “It’s not just providing food for other people, but providing growth opportunities,” Kauffman said. “We’ve come to care very much for them, and they care for us as well.”
