From garden to green: Parish Kitchen volunteer to be honored at Great American Ball Park

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

When the Diocese of Covington and Archdiocese of Cincinnati head out to Great American Ball Park, Sept. 5, to watch the Reds take on the Milwaukee Brewers for this year’s Catholic Family Night, joining them will be Catholic Charities volunteers from both sides of the river to be honored for their ministry and service on the big screen.

One of these volunteers is Jorja Kremer — a parishioner of St. Pius X Parish, Edgewood, and a retired medical technologist turned science teacher.

After retiring, Ms. Kremer attended a “master gardener” program that required volunteer hours to graduate and fatefully followed an ad seeking gardeners for the Parish Kitchen, Covington, a ministry of Catholic Charities that serves meals and respite to neighbors everyday — the rest is history.

“The lot next to them was just a vacant, hard clay, rock and brick field. It was totally barren, and you could hardly dig in it.” Ms. Kremer recalls of her beginnings of the garden. “It was so hard to dig in, but there were four raised beds — and so I started.”

Ms. Kremer, alongside the hard work of other volunteers, raised the Parish Kitchen garden that first year. They received soil from the Cincinnati Zoo, built three more raised beds and established a berry bed, as well. During this time, Ms. Kremer also began helping to cook Parish Kitchen’s daily meals ever Friday while tending to the budding garden throughout the week.

“My reasoning for that is giving back,” Ms. Kremer simply said. “I just love seeing the look on people’s faces when they come in and they see flowers in the middle of all that concrete. They see these trees and flowers and a place to sit, and the vegetables growing, and they take it all in.”

The vegetables grown in the Parish Kitchen garden are given away to guests, as well. “Whatever we grow, we give to them,” she said. “It became a total work of love.”

Jill Walch, director, Volunteer Engagement for Catholic Charities, said that “Jorja’s faith is at the heart of her commitment to serving others. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she has devoted herself to caring for the Parish Kitchen garden, creating a space that brings both nourishment and comfort to our guests.

“The garden is more than a source of fresh produce. It is a peaceful and welcoming place where our guests can enjoy a moment of beauty and calm. We are grateful for Jorja’s dedication and for the many ways she helps make our community stronger.”

Ms. Kremer shares that same gratitude for the workers at Parish Kitchen.

“I think that Parish Kitchen is a major worthwhile thing to have,” said Ms. Kremer. “It’s the people that work there — everybody is there because they love it, they love the work and they love helping people. That’s really important to me.”