Between rows of tomatoes, cucumbers and blooming flowers, Elizabeth Dry sees something many people miss.
She sees children finding confidence. Families gathering around the dinner table. Communities learning to care for one another.
And she believes it can all start with a garden.
At Sunshine Acres Youth and Community Garden, located on land provided by Mineola ISD, Dry and a growing team of volunteers are cultivating more than vegetables. They are cultivating food security, education and connection in a region where hunger remains an often invisible challenge.
“We need to put children over everything,” Dry said. “They’re our future.”
The nonprofit organization, which Dry established in Mineola in January 2025 after years of similar work in the Dallas area, is already producing impressive results. The garden currently harvests an average of 110 pounds of fresh produce each week, including tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, beans, herbs and leafy greens.
Some of that produce is destined for local schools.
Potatoes currently curing in storage will become some of the first fresh ingredients delivered to students when school resumes this fall. Dry hopes the partnership with Mineola ISD will continue to grow through the district’s Farm to School efforts.
But for Dry, food is only part of the mission.
A former teacher, principal and curriculum writer with more than four decades of experience in education, she believes gardens offer lessons that extend far beyond agriculture.
“This is the plate,” she said, gesturing toward the garden. “Everything else can be portioned on it.”
Students who visit Sunshine Acres learn science, nutrition, ecology and life skills through hands-on experiences. They witness plant propagation, observe life cycles and learn where food comes from before it reaches a grocery store shelf.
Dry hopes students will eventually visit the farm regularly, following crops from planting to harvest and then seeing those same foods appear in school cafeterias.
She believes those experiences can help children develop a deeper appreciation for healthy food and for one another.
“There are invisible children in every classroom in this country,” Dry said. “This gives those children an instant sense of place and purpose and an opportunity to contribute to their community.”
The work is deeply personal.
During her years working with children in Dallas schools and community gardens, Dry encountered students experiencing food insecurity firsthand. Some children, she recalls, admitted they went to bed hungry.
Those experiences inspired Sunshine Acres’ “Soup It Forward” initiative, a program that combines fresh produce, recipes and community service.
Families receive ingredients and instructions for preparing nutritious meals at home. After cooking, participants are encouraged to share a portion with a neighbor, friend or family member.
“It’s not necessarily someone in need,” Dry said. “All of us need good food. And if we were to share and care for one another, a lot of our problems would disappear.”
The program has already earned recognition from the Texas Medical Association Foundation, receiving both a Champion of Health Award and recognition through the Promise of Peace Gardens initiative.
Community involvement remains central to everything Sunshine Acres does.
Volunteers work alongside Dry to maintain the garden, and youth participants can eventually qualify for paid internship opportunities. Local businesses and organizations have also contributed support, including donated fruit trees, gardening supplies and partnerships for future events.
The garden hosts educational programs, cooking demonstrations and community celebrations with names such as “Carrot Carnival,” “Tomato Fest” and “Okra Palooza.”
While the events are fun, Dry said they serve a larger purpose: helping people reconnect with food, nature and one another.
“Food is love,” she said. “It’s a way to connect.”
As Sunshine Acres continues to grow, Dry hopes more residents will stop by, volunteer or simply learn more about the mission.
The rows of vegetables stretching across the property represent something larger than a harvest.
For Dry, they represent possibility.
One seed. One child. One family meal at a time.
For more information about Sunshine Acres Youth and Community Garden, volunteer opportunities, the Soup It Forward program and upcoming events, visit the organization’s website at promiseofpeace.us, or social media pages.