Our “Village” is Dempsey Farms out on St. Helena Island. As part of our mission and our Expanded Food Source Initiative, Second Helpings is always seeking out new food sources. High on our list are ones that provide fresh produce. We are proud to have them as our newest food donation partner.
Dempsey Farms has been a family run business for almost 60 years, started shortly after J.W. Dempsey moved his young family to Beaufort. 
They primarily sold their produce to businesses until the poor economic conditions in the early 70’s forced them to rethink their business model and convert to a U- Pick It Farm. They currently have around 170 acres of land just off of Sea Island Parkway where they grow all kinds of beautiful vegetables and fruits (green beans, strawberries, squash, corn, melon tomatoes and peppers). Ted, a retired educator runs the farm stand and he has a variety of fresh picked vegetables ready to purchase for those who’d prefer not to venture into the fields. I was fortunate enough to pick up some big juicy strawberries, beans and squash. Half the green beans never made it back home, but instead were eaten on the way back to the Second Helpings office. Munching on those beans brought me back to my childhood when my mother would pile all eight kids in the big station wagon and take us to the local farm in New Jersey to purchase our vegetables and enjoy the fresh air. Yes, NJ has farms; it is known as the Garden State!
We can’t thank them enough for partnering with us in our quest to end hunger in the Lowcountry. As you can see, their vegetable donations are beautiful even though they are considered either too big, too small, not pretty enough to sell or just excess inventory. However, to us and all the people we feed, they are just perfect! Visit their website or like them on Facebook to learn more about their wonderful farm and delicious vegetables (www.dempseyfarmsupick.com).
