About Us
Holly Hirshberg
Founder, Executive Director, 2011 CNN HERO
In 2008, in the midst of a crumbling economy, Holly came up with a plan to help families and communities could weather the tough times by growing produce themselves.
Much like
the Victory Gardens of the First and Second World Wars, these "Dinner Gardens" would allow people to stretch their food budgets and enhance their nutritional intake.
Individuals and families could have greater food security and take a direct part in that effort.
To help people achieve their gardens, Holly started at the beginning: providing people with vegetable seeds, free of charge. Step two was supporting their efforts with gardening information and tips for cheap gardening in the space they had available. She envisioned a nation where front lawns, empty lots, medians, parks, schools, churches, and community centers devoted space to fruit and vegetable gardens. "The Dinner Garden isn't just about the seeds," she says. "It is about giving people hope. It is about showing people another way to live. The Dinner Garden is creating communities where families spend time together in a productive way and children learn that they can create something beautiful and useful to their family."
Holly registered The Dinner Garden as a non-profit corporation in the fall of 2008 in the State of Texas. In January 2009, The Dinner Garden began its mission of distributing seeds. In July 2009, The Dinner Garden became a 501(c)(3) non profit. The Dinner Garden has gardeners in all 50 states and has provided seeds to over 65,000 thousand of individuals, families and community gardeners. They have partnered with organizations, food banks, and businesses across the country, like Catholic Charities, World Food Garden, Seeds for Food, the Wyoming Food Bank, the San Antonio Food Bank, The Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Club, The Peterson Garden Project, The San Antonio Community Gardeners, and The Salvation Army.
In 2009, Holly was decreed a " Yellow Rose of Texas" by the Governor, for her work with The Dinner Garden. Holly also won the Cabot Cheese Community Celebrity Award in 2009. In 2010 and 2011, Holly and The Dinner Garden have been featured in Family Circle, Redbook, Woman's World, Angels on Earth, Trends, Urban Farmer, Consumer Reports, and American Dog Magazines. In 2011 Holly was named a 2011 CNN Hero!
Need an entertaining speaker for an event? Holly is available for speaking engagements! Contact Holly at holly@dinnergarden.orgto schedule her for your next event.
Sean Hirshberg
Chief Operating Officer
Sean holds a Degree from the University of Maryland. He has over 20 years of work experience with 12 of those years in the financial industry. He has worked as a project manager and business analyst on numerous large projects for Wachovia Securities, Scott & Stringfellow, Riordan Consulting, Pearson, Merrill Lynch, and Stanford Financial.
Sean manages the finances, website, IT issues, inventory, legal paperwork, and general operations of The Dinner Garden. He also provides recipes and cooking advice for The Dinner Garden. You can see him in our instructional videos. When he needs to step away from the computer, you'll find Sean busy in the garden, experimenting with new plants and growing whatever he can in the San Antonio heat!