AKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – People at a Friend Ships, a Lake Charles-based international relief organization, are serious about trying to feed the hungry. Now, the organization is helping to do so with fresh, homegrown organic vegetables.
Friend Ships is now growing its vegetables in a hydroponic greenhouse off First Avenue in Lake Charles. Hydroponics is a way to grow plants without soil in water-based mineral nutrients.
“I wanted something healthy for my crew to give them a choice of healthy non-pesticides. Some of my people are sort of vegan-ish and they like healthy choices,” Friend Ships Director Don Tipton said.
The organization will share its homegrown lettuce and other produce with local churches..
“We have twelve different churches and organizations we distribute to who are working with homeless people or rehabilitating people from drug and alcohol addiction,” Friend Ships founder Sondra Tipton said.
Don Tipton says they’ve also produced other green leafy vegetables and herbs, but they want to make even more.
“We want to produce a lot of variety (like) tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, green peppers, and things that make wonderful salads. (We want to produce) things that are good nutrition, have taste, and are clean,” Don Tipton said.
The Tiptons said their experience doing what God wants results in tremendous abundance
“We found that we produce so much abundance. It’s so good that (we can) share it with the people who don’t have quite enough to make ends meet all the time,” Don Tipton said.
The Tiptons also said they have helped people in other parts of the world set up hydroponic greenhouses to grow their food