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Jenison girl using vegetable stand to Pay It Forward

Posted at 10:19 PM, May 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-18 22:19:17-04

JENISON, Mich. -- An Ottawa County girl is helping other kids in her community by growing and selling veggie plants.  Now that her grandparents decided to close the stand, the community rallied behind her to make sure all of her plants were paid for and gone.

Evy Schuster, 6, got her green thumb from her grandparents, who helped her make Evy's Veggies. They decided they're going to close the stand early after some complaints from neighbors, but the community wanted to make sure she was still able to help out her classmates.

"She wanted to help grandma with planting and doing the gardening thing since we grow an organic garden in the backyard," Evy's grandpa Rich Mapes said. "She decided one day that she wanted to help some other people so we kind of came up with the idea of growing stuff and planning out plants."

That's when Evy's Veggies was born.  She uses some of the money to help buy things like school supplies and winter gear for her classmates in need.

"At my school I bought hats, mittens and backpacks for them," Evy said.

Her grandparents decided to take down the veggie stand, asking the public to come buy what they had left to sell. A random stranger bought all of them.

"The gentleman came through and just bought all the plants and asked Evy to give away her plants as a form of pay it forward type giving thing, which is another opportunity for her to learn from," Rich Mapes said.

But most people who came afterward still paid for what they took.

"[I'm] happy that I get more money to help people," Evy said.

"It’s amazing what can transpire in the community through everybody supporting and loving and having compassion for everybody else," Rich said. "It’s a great community."

Evy planned on having the veggie stand open through Memorial Day, but all of her plants will likely be gone by Saturday. You can follow along with her business venture on the Evy's Veggies Facebook page.