Canned good drives and money campaigns are common in efforts to feed the hungry, but the Oxford Family Resource Center has gone a step farther with a garden where community members are actually growing food for them.

The Oxford Community Garden also is allowing those community members to keep some of the produce for their own tables.

The garden, located behind the FRC on College Corner Pike, was started by Marilyn Elzey, a retired Talawanda district teacher, who volunteers at the center.

The land was split into six garden plots and rented for $10 each with one big patch of the garden left for volunteers where the produce will be donated to Oxford Community Choice Pantry.

“Since fresh produce is being donated, it goes towards our mission of providing nutritious food to our customers,” said Mike Johnson of Choice Pantry.

FRC volunteers Elzey, Ruth Overly, Roseann Julian and Etsuko Leonard maintain the pantry patch. Leonard works about four hours each week in the garden.

“I just like being out in the garden, it’s wonderful to be out here producing fresh fruit and vegetables,” Leonard said.

Volunteers are still needed to do garden work one to two hours a week with weeding, watering and harvesting.

FRC hopes to make the garden a yearly project.

The garden is only one current effort to help families in need in the Oxford area. With the economy wreaking havoc on the area, more people are needing help and the Family Resource Center is trying to find more ways to help.

“We are seeing new families because people in the community are losing their jobs,” Diane Ruther-Vierling, executive director for FRC, said.

More than 50 families have come to FRC in the past three months who have never been there before.

Donations also have been down by $15,000 this year, causing FRC to do fundraising events.