By Andrea Uhde
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Verna Griffin (right), working Thursday in the North Fairmount Community Garden with other community garden members, will be honored today as part of the Make A Difference Day recognition. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

In a little garden on St. Leo Place in North Fairmount, where morning glories blossom and tomato plants bud, there is hope for the hungry.

Verna Griffin, 41, plucks weeds from the plots of land, edging between string beans and basil leaves. Soon, the food will be in the North Fairmount pantry, where nearby residents can pick it up at a low cost.

Griffin, of North Fairmount, enjoys the beauty of the garden, but she also finds satisfaction knowing she's providing affordable food for local residents.

"We want to feed them," she said. "(Commercial) Vegetables are kind of expensive, plus they have a lot of pesticide."

Griffin, who tutors through AmeriCorps at the North Fairmount Adult Education Center, and others at the center planted the vegetables and flowers in May. Each week, various community members tend the garden, or just come to sit at the nearby picnic table shaded by a cherry tree.

"It's beautiful, it really is," Griffin said of the garden.

Griffin and others at the center will be recognized today by the Enquirer for their volunteer efforts.

Make A Difference Day, started by USA Today, takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October. Millions participate, but the Enquirer will recognize only the locals.

Among the others who will be recognized:

• Graduate students of the UC School of Planning/AmeriCorps, who helped repair and repaint an inner-city community center.

• The Madeira Woman's Club, which collected 1,180 used books and is selling them to raise money for the Cincinnati Association for the Blind.

• The Urban Appalachian Council, which helped inner-city Appalachian children decorate Halloween bags and fill them with gifts for seriously ill children.

• Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Butler County/Fenwick High School, which mentored children and helped them as they cleaned school grounds, recycling bins and blackboards.

• Mason Make A Difference Day Group, made up of Mason community members and organizations, which organized drives to collect clothes, foods and school supplies, among other items.

E-mail auhde@enquirer.com