November 8, 2026
By Michele Miller
What’s What New Port Richey
That sure smells good was the thought upon entering the African American Club on Saturday morning. A fish fry was underway at the monthly members’ meeting, and the wafting aroma from the kitchen, where volunteers had been prepping all morning, had me second-guessing the decision to adhere to a plant-based diet.
Stay strong. Hours later, I’d be dining on a somewhat locally sourced and vegetarian meal prepared by the New Port Richey FarmNet community, another organization that for years has been promoting local food production and consumption in the City of New Port Richey.
Two events on one day, seeking to feed the community in multiple ways.
The AAC’s fish fry, held in the historic Booker T. Washington School on Pine Hill Road in Port Richey, was a fundraiser for the club’s after-school enrichment program. With the meeting underway, a kid named Castor was snapping photographs to document the day, and a teen named Selena, who also earns volunteer hours at the club, was manning a table to sell the candles she had made.
A budding entrepreneur on the rise? Maybe, given the support of club members.
I first wrote about the AAC after-school program in 2023 for a Community Spotlight feature for this publication (see story below). That year, the program’s focus was on the arts and featured instruction in dance and music along with tutoring and homework help.
When a call went out to the community for people wanting to share life skills, and now I am one of handful of volunteers in this year’s program that focuses on journalism, finances and Black History with time set aside for tutoring, homework help, and craft activities.
When all is said, everyone gathers together for a meal prepared by volunteers.
The African American Club’s outreach focus is primarily on the kids. But the club also helps to educate the community with events such as the annual MLK, Black History Month, and Juneteenth celebrations. They also host an annual fundraising Scholarship Dinner Dance that has raised thousands for scholarships for graduating high school seniors.
You could say they’re feeding the masses in a variety of ways. They could use some help, whether it be time spent talking with these kids about a life skill or career, or sharing your treasure to help fund the program and maybe pick up the weekly dinner tab.
If that’s up your alley, you can email aacofpasco@yahoo.com, visit the African American Club of Pasco Website, or visit the African American Club of Pasco Facebook Page.
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New Port Richey FarmNet’s Annual Community Dinner, held on Saturday evening in Peace Hall in Sims Park, offered an evening for members of the local urban garden movement to gather and dine on some pretty palate-pleasing dishes – each featuring at least one locally grown ingredient, from the bourbon-glazed carrots to the vegetarian sliders, collard greens, and salads and desserts of various sorts.
It was a wonderful way to showcase the results of a collective harvest, with one of the goals being to honor those who had donated their time and resources over the last year to the garden that, hands-on, educates people about regenerative gardening methods that, when utilized, might serve to feed the wider community.
The organization oversees several garden plots in the city of New Port Richey, including a donated plot called Grand Gardens, where folks can lease a plot of their own to tend.
NPR FarmNet also sponsors a handful of modest food festivals that include the Collard Greens Festival, Loquat Festival, Monarch Festival, Okra Occasion, and the upcoming Sweet Potato Roundup that will be held on November 21 at the New Port Richey Public Library.
Th organization stocks the library’s seed “borrowing” program, supplying seeds from locally grown crops that thrive better in the Florida soil and climate, hosts a variety of plant-based workshops throughout the year, and regularly sets up a booth at the Tasty Tuesday Markets held weekly at the New Port Richey Library, as well as the farmers’ markets held on the second and fourth Sunday of the month (October through May) at Wright’s Natural Market and Cafe on Main Street in downtown New Port Richey.
You can give a person a taste of something good, and you can teach a person how to grow that something good themselves.
Want to get on board? Visit farmnetnpr.com.
Now, onward.
Michele Miller is the creator, editor, and content creator for the What’s What New Port Richey community website and biweekly newsletter, which has been up and running since June of 2020. Prior to that, she wrote “good news” stories, features, and columns while working as a reporter and photographer for the St. Petersburg Times/Tampa Bay Times. She resides in New Port Richey. Contact her at mmiller@whatswhatnewportrichey.com. To read more of her essays, click here.
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