photo From left: Soroptimist International Large Grant chair, Sue Coppin, poses for a photo with Magic Garden Project Ministry team leader Robin Martin. The Soroptimists presented Martin with a $4,272 check for the purpose of obtaining appliances for a commercial kitchen at Joseph United Methodist Church.

Soroptimist International of Wallowa County awarded the Magic Garden its yearly “Large Grant” of $4,272 during an April 9 luncheon. The grant is for the purpose of creating a certified commercial kitchen.

Robin Martin, team leader of the Magic Garden Project Ministry Team, accepted the award on behalf of the Magic Garden, which is a community garden joint effort with the Joseph United Methodist Church and Joseph Charter School. The commercial kitchen will be located in the church.

The Magic Garden plans a variety of community uses for its planned commercial kitchen, including a “Friday Soup Kitchen” for the benefit of financially struggling families. Other beneficiaries include small businesses with an interest in commercial food production along with community cooking and food preservation classes. Anyone in Wallowa County is eligible to use the kitchen.

“This is a real good thing because we need $26,000 just for the appliances, but this got us started. We already have enough money to build the building from church people,” Martin said.

The grant application stated that current commercial kitchen availability in the county is expensive and inadequate.

The Magic Garden had counted on acquiring a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust, but MMT is currently in hiatus while reorganizing the program. Martin also said with enough letters of community support, a Wildhorse Foundation grant lies within the realm of possibility. Magic Garden is also currently working on smaller grants, Martin said.

Sue Coppin, large grant chair for the Soroptimists, expressed pleasure at her organization’s opportunity to help fund the kitchen. “The whole purpose of our Large Grant is to take one project every year and really make a difference with it.”

Coppin said part of the criteria for choosing the grant is that it betters the lives of women. “Robin’s whole project has the potential of improving the lives of women in the community,” she said.