LABORING IN THE LORD'S NAME DALE CAINE'S GARDENS PROVIDE ONE-OF-A-KIND MINISTRY TO AID OTHERS.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
The sun isn't up yet, but Dale Caine is. The 80-year-old retired Lockheed machinist throws a few shovels, rakes, hoes and bags of fertilizer fertilizer, organic or inorganic material containing one or more of the nutrients—mainly nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and other essential elements required for plant growth. in the back of his pickup truck and heads out to one of the half-dozen vegetable gardens he tends for God in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . ``I made a covenant with the Lord 15 years ago that I'd work from sunup to sundown in these gardens, and that whatever I grew, it would be his,'' Caine says. So far, it looks like the covenant has worked out pretty good for both of them. Turning 81 in August, Caine has the strength and stamina Stamina Staying power, endurance. Mentioned in: Tai Chi of a man half his age, and the vegetables he grows for God have been helping poor people all over the world. Last year, Caine raised more than $20,000 to build a school for children living in the slums of Kenya from the vegetables he sold before and after Saturday night and Sunday morning Sunday Morning may refer to:
Already this year, his vegetables have raised more than $25,000 to send kids on foreign ministry trips. And on one recent Sunday morning, he collected another $3,000 to add to the tens of thousands of dollars his garden ministry has donated to tsunami relief efforts. In 15 years of working sunup to sundown, it doesn't stretch the credulity cre·du·li·ty n. A disposition to believe too readily. [Middle English credulite, from Old French, from Latin cr of anyone who knows this incredible man to believe he's made well over half a million dollars for this church selling the Lord's vegetables every weekend. ``Every penny he makes from selling those vegetables for $1 a bag goes to our ministries and missions,'' Winters says. ``On average, Dale raises $30,000 a year, easy.'' And it's not only money he's raising, says Sue Lepisto, former principal of Porter Middle School in Granada Hills, where Dale has one of his gardens - 100 feet by 25 feet. It's also the consciousness of hundreds of schoolchildren schoolchildren school npl → écoliers mpl; (at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school he's raising - kids who have learned firsthand first·hand adj. Received from the original source: firsthand information. first the beauty and bounty bounty, payment made by a government bounty, amount paid by a government for the achievement of certain economic or other goals. It often takes the form of a premium paid for the increased production or export of certain goods. of the earth from the tomatoes, corn, onions and peppers they've helped Dale grow in his ministry garden. ``He's taught so many kids the value of the earth - taking something from seed to market. You should see how proud these kids are to take these vegetables they've grown with their own hands home to their parents. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what age Dale is, but even if he was a young man, I've never seen anyone till the soil and do the kind of physical labor he does in that garden,'' Lepisto says. She tried to tell him that a few times over the years, but finally gave up because Dale would turn as red as those beet-red tomatoes he was growing in the school garden. It's that humbleness and shyness that only enhances the love people have for this man, Winters says. ``You can see it in their eyes as they watch this bent-over, old farmer who's still wearing his old John Deere hat unloading Unloading Selling securities or commodities whose prices are dropping to minimize loss. his truck, and setting up his vegetable stand in front of church,'' he says. ``People can't wait to talk to him. They truly appreciate what he is doing.'' Dale knows 'most all his customers by now. Knows the ones who are doing pretty well in life and often slip him more than $1 a bag for God's vegetables. Knows the ones going through tough times, so he slides that dollar back to them with their bag of vegetables. The Lord wouldn't charge them, Dale says. Why should he? He learned that from his mother, Abbie, back in North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. where the family lived on a farm. She taught her son everything she knew about growing vegetables in her garden, and when Dale was old enough she took him with her to the boardinghouses where she sold her vegetables - 10 cents a bag. Many times Dale would give his mother a quizzical quiz·zi·cal adj. 1. Suggesting puzzlement; questioning. 2. Teasing; mocking: "His face wore a somewhat quizzical almost impertinent air" Lawrence Durrell. look, trying to understand why she didn't get that 10 cents from the woman giving her a hug for a sack of vegetables. The Lord wouldn't charge them, Abbie told her son. Why should she? ``The way I look at it, what good is money if you can't help people with it?'' Dale says Thursday, finishing up another day in one of his ministry gardens. The sun has set for the day, and so, too, finally, can Dale Caine. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Dale Caine, who'll turn 81 in August, holds strawberries he grew at Porter Junior High School's community garden, one of many he tends. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (2) Gardener Dale Caine sets up Dale's Garden Ministry, the booth where he sells vegetables, outside Shepherd of the Hills Church. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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