Nonprofits to employ disabled in raising crops

By Rita Price, Columbus Dispatch

Construction won’t be complete for a few months, but Doug Sharp has known for years that the new business sprouting in his family cornfield would have a jump on success.

Parents call from as far away as North Carolina to ask whether their sons and daughters might be a fit for one of the jobs. Future clients tell him they’re ready and waiting to place orders for the Ohio-grown product.

The nonprofit social enterprise is called Lettuce Work, and the story is in the name.
“This will produce about 5,000 heads of lettuce a week,” Sharp said of the New Albany-area greenhouse operation. “Locally grown is appealing. And then when you tie it into what we’re trying to do, with the mission of helping people with autism find employment, it’s a pretty easy sell.”

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