Circle K International is volunteering at the Giving Field community garden on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. All Lamar students are welcome to attend.
The garden is located on 2895 Liberty Ave in Beaumont. The Giving Field was founded in October 2012 by Sharon Begnaud and has since donated 86,000 pounds of organic produce to people in need with the help of 18,000 volunteer hours.
Begnaud said the Giving Field has one primary mission.
“The mission is to feed the hungry while educating all that come to help us do the work to serve the mission,” she said.
She then explained what agencies the Giving Field partners with to help feed the hungry.
“We have four agencies that we work with currently,” she said. “We have Some Other Place soup kitchen here in Beaumont, the Hospitality Center, which is also a soup kitchen in Port Arthur, Market to Hope which is a Catholic Charities program, like a grocery store set up for their clients, and then Nutrition and Services for Seniors.”
She also detailed various jobs that students can do while they’re volunteering.
“Volunteers perform a variety of tasks at the garden,” she said. “You know, weeding, watering, planting, harvesting, anything and everything that needs to be done can be done by any
volunteer, because we actually teach people as they’re volunteering how to do the different tasks.”
Giving Field education director, Marsha Fults, works closely with the students at St. Anne Catholic School, which implements the Giving Field into their educational curriculum.
“Recently, we went to a mental health fair, and one of our things we talked about was how
gardening is good for your mental health,” she said. “It lets you use your hands; it lets you kind of create your own peace and space, and it gives us an opportunity that not everybody has if they don’t have a garden of their own. What I like about it for any student is that most people can be successful in it, and we all want to be successful in things that we try.”
Fults said there are many reasons to consider volunteering on April 12.
“I think that Spring is a wonderful time to be working in the garden,” she said. “I think there’s plenty of opportunity for them to experience doing something for other people, and it’s a good opportunity for them to help in their community and help our mission to feed the hungry.”
Begnaud explained why Lamar students should consider volunteering on April 12.
“First of all, it gives you an opportunity to be n the outdoors and to learn about gardening.”, she said. “It’s a unique way to service your community.”
For those who cannot volunteer on April 12, there are plenty of other opportunities to get involved with the Giving Field.
“We have volunteer hours every second Saturday from nine to noon, and we are always looking for volunteers on those days,” Fults said. “We also have volunteer hours on Tuesday mornings
from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., weather permitting. We are also looking for volunteers for our kids summer camp from May 27th through May 30th that can help from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.”
The Giving Field also has many events scheduled throughout the year.
“Our main fundraiser is in October,” she said. “It’s our Farm to Table dinner. Funds go towards our general operating funds, all the fundraisers that we do go towards sustaining our program, and the things we grow out there, like chicken eggs. All that goes to the different agencies, and we don’t charge them for that.”
Lamar students can register to volunteer on LU Hub. For more information about the Giving Field and their mission, they can be found on Facebook with the handle “The Giving Field on Liberty St.” and on Instagram under the handle @thegivingfield.