Mitzvah Garden KC (MGKC) will be kicking off its 26th season with its opening day planting on Sunday, March 8.
The entire community is invited to volunteer throughout the season, March to November, on Sunday mornings from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. In the month of March alone, garden volunteers will be helping plant potatoes, broccoli, horseradish, dill, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, swiss chard, kale, collards and onions.
MGKC is a volunteer-supported nonprofit garden founded in 2000, with the goal of “growing community one plant at a time.” Located on land behind The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, MGKC has satellite locations at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Congregation Beth Shalom and Barstow Academy.
MGKC was founded with a mission to provide fresh and healthy food to those in need around Kansas City. One-hundred percent of food harvested is donated to local food pantries such as Jewish Family Services, Renewed Hope Food Pantry and Blue Valley Schools Food Pantry.
Garden growth in the 2026 season
In 2025, the Mitzvah Garden grew and donated over 11,500 pounds of produce, yielding nearly 68,000 servings of fruits and vegetables. Garden Coordinator Nick Smith has a plan to quadruple this output for the 26th season.
In order to achieve the goal, MGKC’s representatives said, they are going to need more volunteers than ever to aid in planting and harvesting. Their peak harvest season (June-October) requires at least 25-30 volunteers a week and four-to-six vehicles for transportation.
New beds at Mitzvah Garden KC.
“With four times the produce comes four times the work, four times the car loads to the food pantry,” Smith said. “That’s not even counting our orchard fruit production that we will harvest and distribute on top of our 40,000-lb. garden goal. Come do a real mitzvah.”
MGKC staff said that Sunday mornings at the garden are “a working social club.” Alongside volunteer work, the garden is intended to spark community building, conversation and relationships. Smith said the collaborative culture is exactly what makes the garden sustainable.
“Come to the Mitzvah Garden, hang out with good people, make friends and harvest enough food during peak season to serve 1,500 food-insecure families each week. It’s such a simple, easy thing to do,” Smith said.
MGKC welcomes volunteers of all ages, faiths, cultures and backgrounds, from individuals to families, Girl Scouts and high school clubs.
“I love that this place means so much to so many different people and that it inspires so much joy while doing so much good,” Smith said. “A family celebrating a bat mitzvah could help us plant 1,200 individual fall crops, and one religious school visit could seed enough crops to provide a whopping 10 tons of cucumbers, melons and squashes.”
Those interested in more information about MGKC or joining its email list can email Ken Sonnenschein at .
