COEUR d'ALENE - Members of the Shared Harvest Community Garden held a cleanup day Sunday as the organization prepares for its annual Dinner Under the Stars event Aug. 15.

Shared Harvest Community Garden is located at Foster Avenue and 10th Street, where 60 plots and other spaces are tended to by community members.

Shared Harvest started seven years ago when garden manager Kim Normand had an interest in having a pumpkin-growing contest. Once Normand found the land through Marshall Mend, the community garden idea grew from there. Mend donates the use of the land and Shared Harvest covers property tax for the space. Normand said the Dinner Under the Stars fundraiser covers the taxes Shared Harvest pays and that she hopes to have members and non-members in attendance.

Bryony Stasaney of Coeur d'Alene is a garden member and said she enjoys many things about being involved with Shared Harvest.

"I think this is one of the most amazing community projects here," Stasaney said. "The great thing is that I get to meet my neighbors."

Stasaney, who relocated from England to the United States in 1992, said the environment is wonderful.

"I'm an outdoorsy person at heart," Stasaney said. "Coeur d'Alene and this garden are lovely, it's home for me."

Erin Provost of Coeur d'Alene, along with her husband, Robert, and three children, took part in the cleanup Sunday. The children manned wheelbarrows, rakes and hay bales that were spread throughout the garden. Erin said she brings her kids to the garden to be involved in the community.

Garden member Naomi Conant of Coeur d'Alene agrees with Provost.

"This kind of project helps build a community," Conant said. "It helps families thrive and gives them a great place to go plant seeds together and watch them grow and blossom."

Shared Harvest Community Garden members agree that the garden gives them a place to make a difference, but one of the main outcomes is that they help feed the community around them.

"Out of this garden, we collect food for 15 different food assistance facilities," Normand said. "We collect on Wednesdays and distribute the food through Roots Local Food Share."

RLFS is a group that collects from trees and farmers markets to give fresh healthy produce to those in need, such as food banks, soup kitchens, transitional homes and senior centers.

The Dinner Under the Stars event is the main fundraiser for the nonprofit. The evening will feature live music, a silent auction and a dinner menu served by Cafe Carambola. The event is open to everyone and will include the children's play, "Deer, John," a homecoming story. Ticket information is available on the Shared Harvest website at www.sharedharvestgarden.org.

"People always say they want to make a change in the world," Normand said. "I say you make it in your backyard. I think if you start there it starts a ripple effect."