Orem volunteer team preps garden for patient’s spouse

A good garden provides more than just vegetables, and the LiVe Well Garden at Orem Community Hospital in Orem, Utah has had a major impact on one local couple. 

Anne and Dan Pierce purchased a house that shares a fence with Orem’s LiVe Well Garden because they were interested in gardening there. After moving in, they joined a wait list for a plot, and four years ago, they were granted a space. 

The opportunity is particularly valuable to them because, for the last decade, Dan has required an organic diet as he copes with liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. Dan entered hospice care this spring, and Anne struggles with her own health issues, so when she arrived at the garden last month to prep her soil and plant, she didn’t have the strength to pull it off. 

What followed was, according to Anne, “a wonderful miracle.” It started with a passer-by on the walking path who helped Anne carry a bag of fertilizer to the garden area. Then Andria Sainsbury stepped in. Andria has been Orem’s volunteer services supervisor for 11 years and says the hospital’s 48-plot LiVe Well garden provides a unique opportunity for caregivers to understand the needs of their community. Along with providing access to healthy foods, she said, gardening improves mental and emotional well-being. 

Recognizing Anne couldn’t till in the fertilizer, Andria coordinated with Facility Supervisor Keith Pennington, who hauled over the tiller and worked the soil. Keith, who himself has lost seven family members since 2010, said that “my heart went out to Anne, because I know exactly how she feels and what she is going through.” 

Keith passed the baton to volunteer Jesse Holyoak, who helped Anne plant her starts and water them. Then Jesse, a senior at Utah Valley University who hopes to attend pharmacy school, asked Anne if there was anything else he could do to help. If there was anything Anne needed more than help planting, it was a listening ear.  

“She asked if I could stick around and hear her story,” Jesse said. “She’s been through a lot.” 

Jesse stayed for another 30-45 minutes before helping Anne to her car, where she hugged him and thanked him again. 

“It was cool to see it all come together,” Andria said. “Keith and Jesse are both willing to help with whatever I need help with.” 

“It showed me you never know who’s going to be in your path that you can help in your day-to-day work,” Jesse said.  

Anne said on planting day, “I felt Heavenly Father’s angels helping me. All these wonderful miracles started because of Andria. Keith tilled the box, and Jesse came and was so kind and patient and wonderful in helping me get the plants planted. I literally felt like these wonderful people were Heavenly Father’s hands for me that day.” 

It’s not the first time Andria has supported the Pierces. Andria said she often gets to know the gardeners, making it “almost impossible not to connect with people. Some of my favorite memories are hunting for squash bugs at night with a bunch of other gardeners, flashlights in hand. Other times, it’s lending a listening ear.” 

Andria said she has become close with Anne and Dan and was glad to be of support during this difficult time in their lives. 

“Andria has been wonderful from the get-go,” Anne said. “You might think a garden box is no big deal, but Dan has to eat organic, so it’s very important for us to have this. Andria is one amazing, caring, awesome young woman.” 

Most recently, Andria offered to replace some of Anne’s cucumber plants that had wilted in the heat. 

“It was like huge bricks being lifted off my shoulders,” Anne said. “I cannot tell you how grateful I am, and how wonderful people at this hospital have been, and it all started with Andria.”