VALE, N.C. — Knee deep in dirt, weeding out his raised vegetable beds, Robert Sain said growing things is in his blood. His father owned 30 acres of apple trees in Vale, a small community in western Lincoln County. 

What You Need To Know

  • Robert Sain is a retired Lutheran pastor

  • His father used to grow apple trees and then ferns on his land in Vale, NC

  • Sain lives in a area considered a food desert, with little access to fresh vegetables

  • He grows his own and donates the vegetables to a local food pantry at Daniel's Lutheran Church

After the apple trees were phased out by the changing agriculture industry in the county, his family began to grow ferns. 

"We had huge Boston ferns," said Sain.

He moved back in town in 1998 and continued to help his father with the fern business while pastoring at a local church. When he retired from the ministry, he wanted to continue to serve the community. 

He said he got the idea to grow food when he went on a mission trip to Philadelphia. 

"A couple of people had started a community garden, and it was right there in the middle of downtown, and they had engaged the whole community,” Sain said. 

He said in Vale, grocery stores are scattered at least a 20-minute car ride for families. Daniel's Lutheran Church has a food pantry started by a local woman, Terri Salmon. 

"We started in the back room with only one shelf," Salmon said. 

Sain thought to donate all the vegetables he grows to the pantry. 

"Why don’t I use my gifts and the blessings God's given me … to use them there too," said Sain. 

"Everybody has been so thankful," said Salmon. 

Sain grows everything from cabbage, to peas and is expanding his garden. He donates to the pantry every week. 

The pantry hands out food every second and fourth Wednesday from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Daniel's Lutheran Church located at 3170 Reepsville Road Lincolnton, N.C. 28092