Light of Christ Community Garden property is up for sale

After 15 years of growing community, the Community Garden property at the Light of Christ Church will soon be sold.

The impact of the garden has outgrown the bounds of its 5.29 acres and will leave a legacy through the many other gardens that have sprouted from its original seed.

The property is located at 34249 21st Ave. SW in Federal Way and features over 51 garden beds, including those designed for wheelchair and other mobility access needs.

It was listed around April 10 by KW Mountains to Sound Realty for $2.85 million, according to a listing on Homes.com

Founders Jim and Donna Cox are ready to retire from running the garden, and the Light of Christ Church is ready to use the funds from the sale to invest into their ministry.

The garden will continue to function as usual through this summer at least, and potentially even longer, depending on the development plans of the owners.

Jim Cox told the Mirror that the church originally agreed to allow them to utilize the property for 10 years on their community garden experiment — and it is has now been 15 years. The church has been paying the bills for the garden for that period of time and considered various development possibilities, but selling it will help them take care of needed church repairs and move forward on other projects.

While the garden is on church property, it is cared for and open to the greater public of Federal Way.

“The purpose of the garden is community, where we welcome people of all faiths and no faiths to come and work together for other people in the community,” he said.

There will be many chances to get involved in the garden as it enters its last seasons, with several events coming up this summer, including a public yard sale in July and National Night Out in August.

A community legacy

In the 15 years of garden’s existence, Jim and Donna Cox estimate they’ve grown and shared over 60,000 pounds of produce.

The produce is distributed to several different community organizations in the area including Mitchell Place Senior Residence, Faith Baptist Church, FUSION transitional housing, St. Vincent De Paul Society, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church and more.

They also partner with the community in other ways including the Employment Transition Program (ETP) with Federal Way Public Schools.

Participants in the ETP program work at the garden one to two days a week and are helped with learning to work under guidance, and working together as a group with direction.

Although the bountiful plants and produce take a lot of work and effort, at the end of the day, the focus is on bringing members of community together, not on the garden itself, Jim Cox told the Mirror.

If the only goal was to feed hungry people, “we would do better standing on the street corner, collecting money and making a deal with Costco.” Instead, the garden is “more about working in the dirt, finding out that we have more in common than what separates us.”

Jim and Donna Cox and even city permitting processes have grown along with the garden.

Back when it was first created, the city didn’t have any guidelines for how to permit a community garden. Due to the Cox’s collaboration with the city, an easy to follow checklist is now available for those who want to start one.

When the garden began, Jim and Donna Cox had also not yet become Master Gardeners, a pursuit that came out of their desire to gain some expertise to help the Community Garden thrive a few years into its existence.

Reflecting on the garden over the years, Jim Cox shared that his most precious memories and greatest pride is the level of volunteerism involved in building and maintaining the gardens over the years.

“Donna and I did not build the garden. It was built by volunteers — a lot of it was youth,” he told the Mirror.

The garden was also designed to be a place where people can come and reflect, to find a moment of peace in a busy world. A guest can stop and watch hummingbirds from the reflection deck, or just take in a moment of peace or prayer when needed, he said.

“We’ll have people come in after work and just stop in the garden, sit and kind of decompress before they go home,” he added.

Donna Cox shared that they also have a “large activity area right behind the garden that is open the public, and we’ve had everything from baby showers and weddings there to picnics and all sorts of activities.”

Some of these were hosted by the Light of Christ Church like annual summer yard sales, Halloween pumpkin patches and an Easter egg hunt that were all open to the public. The garden has also been the site of 14 Eagle Scout projects.

Jim and Donna Cox will continue their extensive legacy of community service in other ways, including sharing their expertise as Master Gardeners and supporting many community gardens around the city. After many years of making memories at the garden, they told the Mirror they are looking forward to their own next season.