Sunnydale Industries Inc. (edit, back)

07/15/2012

Last year, Sunnydale Industries Inc. was awarded an ASI project grant of $20,000 to purchase and construct 60 One-Day structures to be used as greenhouses. Sunnydale Industries is a nonprofit manufacturing business. It is located on the campus of Sunnydale Adventist Academy in Centralia, Missouri, and is owned and operated by the Iowa-Missouri Conference to generate income to support conference schools and churches. The business employs students from the academy, helping them to pay tuition, gain knowledge and experience, and learn responsibility.

Larry Overton, general manager for Sunnydale Industries, reports that 28 of the 20’ x 30’ greenhouses have been installed and roofed. “We actually built them end-toend, which gave us seven greenhouses that are each 120’ long,” he says. “This now expands our operation to ten greenhouses that are each 3,000 square feet.”

The greenhouses are full of tomato plants, and one is currently being filled with soybean plants for use as edamame (soybeans harvested at the peak of ripening, right before hardening). Sunnydale plans to rotate tomatoes, winter greens, and strawberries. Two greenhouses were used for cold weather crops last year, with a very good outcome. The business was contacted by Root Cellar, a grocery chain in Columbia, Missouri, to grow kale, arugula, spinach, Asian greens, and a variety of other cold tolerant crops. There are plans to expand this winter to supply the Sunnydale Academy cafeteria and other grocery store customers with greens. Approximately 500 asparagus roots have been planted, and the Sunnydale growers anticipate a bountiful harvest.

Perhaps the best harvest is reaped in the lives of the students who work in the greenhouses. Seven are currently working full-time, and in the month of June alone, Sunnydale paid students $18,370 for their labor, including work in other areas of the industry. Most of their pay goes directly to the academy for tuition, allowing them to pay their own way through school.

Produce sales over 60 days yielded more than $8,850. Sunnydale is currently selling in seven different grocery stories in Columbia. Customers include Root Cellar, Gerbes, Hy-Vee, and Clover’s grocery stores and markets. They continue to add other stores and restaurants to their customer list, including a local farmer’s market in Centralia.

Future plans include planting more asparagus and field strawberries, as well as adding rhubarb, red and black raspberries, blueberries, melons, pumpkins, and possibly even fruit trees.

“We also have a vision of seeing more greenhouses on our campus,” says Overton. “This would allow us to employ even more students in the summer and during the school year. Sunnydale Academy enrollment is trending upward, due in part to the solid industry we have on campus.”

Additional greenhouses would also allow Sunnydale to grow larger varieties of tomatoes, strawberries, and winter crops, providing more choices to current customers and attracting new ones as well.

“We also have thoughts of someday operating a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, where customers sign up and pay in advance to receive a box of produce on a weekly basis, direct from our gardens,” Overton says.

Sunnydale currently farms 500+ acres, so there is plenty of room for expansion. Ten more greenhouses will soon be built. Other entities in the Iowa-Missouri Conference have expressed interest in setting up greenhouses to raise money for their constituent students’ education.

“We have had inquires from Adventist schools and churches in Lee’s Summit, Rolla, Gentry, Columbia, St. Louis, Springfield, Kansas City, Ames, and Iowa City, to name a few in the Iowa-Missouri Conference,” says Overton.

The Sunnydale model is spreading not only across the Iowa-Missouri Conference, but also across the North American Division. “We have schools, churches, and wellness centers across the United States contacting us to inquire about getting greenhouses of their own,” Overton says. “Our goal is not only to have one at every church and school in our conference that wants one, but at every home, church, school, and wellness center that wants one as well.” Sunnydale is also planning to partner with the North American Division’s “Adventists InStep for Life” program to battle childhood obesity across the division by inspiring healthy eating and physical activity.

“What a huge blessing the additional greenhouses have been for Sunnydale Academy,” says Overton. And what a blessing the project is to the entire North American Division. Overton expresses thanks to everyone who has supported the project by contributing to the ASI special projects offering.