Last Sunday, I visited a very special garden in St. Helena, CA. It’s the passion of Helen Walka Dake, a very generous woman who also has a passion for children. Through this garden, which is right in front of her house and currently loaded with squash and pumpkins, Helen raised over $4,600 for the What If? Foundation over the past few months (and another $4,000 last summer)!

How does she do it? Here’s a photo of me with Helen in front of her “Dean York Garden” self-service/honor-system farm stand.  Helen’s garden is quite big, and she says she spends between 1 to 4 hours tending it and harvesting the produce each day, depending on what needs to be done (and her husband helps too). Then she puts her fresh produce and flowers out for sale, with signs letting people know that all proceeds from sales go to support the programs the What If? Foundation funds for children in Haiti. Word has rapidly spread about the quality of her produce, and Helen says buyers love knowing that their money is going to What If.

Seeing all the produce on the table reminded me of the produce our Haitian partners buy for the food program at the farmer’s market in Port-au-Prince. And I thought about how the money Helen collects from her farm stand helps pay for that produce in Port-au-Prince, supporting farmers and gardens and children in Haiti. I am so touched by this circle of giving, and all that Helen has done to help create it. Her project is, to me, such a beautiful example of love in action. What a gift.