Sophie DeGroot, Garden Coordinator

Meet Sophie DeGroot, our first ever Garden Coordinator. Hailing from across the pond in Seattle, she has a deep love and appreciation for gardening in the PNW. Working with her dad's landscaping business and gleaning fruit trees for food pantries as a kid, she is excited to finally be putting her green thumb and passion for feeding people to work in her community. 

While the PNW has always been home, it took Sophie some time to realize it was where she really wanted to be. Moving to the east coast to go to school, she got her first pea patch in The Victory Gardens in Boston's Fenway neighborhood. Gardening in such a meaningful spot made her feel connected to the history and people that had fostered the soil before her, a feeling she will never forget.

After graduation, she focused on her love for movement and motion - travelling by bike to over 35 countries. From day trips in the mountains of Alaska to 120-day tours across Africa and Asia, as well as solo trips in Australia and Mexico. 

While on a bike tour in Mexico, it quickly became obvious that the pandemic was serious and she needed a place to call home.

The PNW was the obvious choice. The past two years have been difficult in many ways, but the Port Townsend Food Bank and The Food Bank Farm and Gardens were vital in feeling connected to the community and the place she is proud to call home. 

Sophie has been the Volunteer Coordinator for a little more than a year and is excited to dive in even deeper. As Garden Coordinator, she will be working with Garden Managers and Volunteers to foster an efficient, fun, and safe environment for growing food for the food banks. When she's not in the gardens and working with garden managers, you can find her developing her small piece of land or riding (even sometimes racing!) her bike around the West Coast. 

If you want to get in touch, you can reach her at foodbankgrowers@gmail.com