It was a cold night in Washington, D.C., and I was heading back to the hotel when a man approached me. He asked if I would give him some money so he could get something to eat. I'd read the signs: "Don't give money to beggars as most of them are _ ." So I shook my head and kept walking. I wasn't prepared for a reply, but with no hesitation, he followed me and said, "I really am homeless and I really am hungry! You can come with me and watch me eat!" But I kept on walking. The incident kept bothering me for the rest of the week. I had money in my pocket and it wouldn't have killed me to hand over a dollar or two even if he hadn't been a real beggar. On a freezing cold night, no less, I assumed the worst of a fellow human being. Flying back to Anchorage, I couldn't help thinking of him. I tried to reason my failure to help by supposing government agencies, churches and charities were there to feed him. Besides, you're not supposed to give money to beggars. Somewhere over Seattle, I started to write my weekly garden column for The Anchorage Daily News. Out of the blue, I came up with an idea. Bean's Cafe, a local charity service kitchen, feeds hundreds of hungry local people every day. Why not try to get all my readers to plant one row of vegetables or flowers in their gardens for Bean's?  Plant a row for Bean's. It's clean and simple. We didn't keep records back then, but the idea began to take off. Folks would fax me or call when they took something in. It's food for the spirit and comfort for my conscience. In April 1995, the Garden Writers Association of America(GWAA) held their annual meeting in Anchorage and after learning our program, Plant a Row for Bean's became Plant a Row For The Hungry. The idea then was to have every member write or talk about planting a row for the hungry, which brought the program to national attention. As more and more people participated, new variations cropped up. Many companies gave free seeds to customers and displayed the logo for the program.  Donations poured in.  It was then that I could really stop feeling guilty. How did the author make up for what he had done?
He set up a local kitchen to help the poor. He planted a row of vegetables for charity. He called on people to donate money to the Bean's. He initiated the idea of Plant a row for Bean's.