(from The Blue Banner of UNC-Asheville, by Rachel Letcher)

Not knowing the impact his Pisgah View Community Peace Garden would have on the Asheville youth community, Bob White planted a few seeds two years ago, purchased with the $2 he had in his pocket…"I had no earthly idea about gardening, but I knew something needed to happen to make this a better place."

… White, a carpenter by trade, had no source of income at the time and started his garden by planting a package of seeds he purchased with the only money he had.

"I felt lost when I first got out there," he said. "I had no tools, no money and nobody to help me. I just went home. But that voice kept coming back in my head and, about two weeks later, this woman came by and said she could help and connected me with some people."

A student from Warren Wilson College encouraged White to ask for donations and took him out to the college, where he borrowed a tiller and other equipment.

"That's when it got magic, when that lady came to help me," he said… Read the full article here.

Visit the Pisgah View Community Peace Garden’s website.

Bob can be seen in NCGives’ documentary “North Carolina Giving: Philanthropy Across Cultures,” to be released Fall 2009.