16 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | JUNE 2018 their grandparents to teach them life skills.” This can-do spirit has been key to Gregory’s success. Raised in the Pruitt-Igoe housing projects in St. Louis, Missouri, she graduated as valedictorian of her high school class and won a scholarship to Boston University. After graduation, she had a successful 30-year career at Anheuser-Busch and always knew that she wanted to give back after retiring. “All those skills that I learned in corporate America, I was able to apply to running my own nonprofit organization — marketing, communications, brand management, merchandising and how to bring a product to the people,” she said. Her father’s health challenges provided inspiration. Diagnosed with both colon cancer and prostate cancer, he began eating raw and vegetarian foods to regain his health. “I saw firsthand how diet can make a difference,” Gregory said. “It actually helped heal my father.” Today, her farmers market is a platform to create healthy change. “The other piece is the socialization factor,” Gregory said. “We do healthy cooking classes, nutrition education, voter registration and fitness education around the farmers market. So it’s just the platform that we use to get them here.” At Tanner Terrace, the residents are building community out of it. “When they come and there’s not a speaker, they know what to do,” Banks said. “They talk, they chat. So it has taken on its own life.” If produce is the main ingredient Gregory’s Fresh Market serves, the volunteers are the secret sauce. They genuinely care about their customers and greet them with smiles and hugs. “Relating to them is so important,” said Pete Weston, a volunteer for six years. “Sometimes just a smile, just knowing their name and them knowing your name. When they come up and hug you it’s a worthwhile feeling.” Rufus McClain agrees. “They come down and socialize, and you can tell that they don’t do anything else during the day. This is the area for them to greet and meet one another. They like to laugh and have someone to laugh at, and I’m good at that,” he said. True to form, McClain playfully teases Tanner Terrace resident Lou Woody when she enters the room. “When we get our age, we miss that with our families. This fills a void to go socialize,” she said. “There’s a lot more than just coming down for the vegetables.” In the course of their service, the volunteers form real relationships. “I’ve had volunteers come a week later and say, ‘Your resident was looking to get some greens and we didn’t have them, but now we’re here to deliver them,’” Banks said. Such service is no accident. “Most farmers markets are more transactional. With us, it’s all about building the relationship,” Gregory explained. “We stay in touch COVER STORY CONTINUED

JUNE 2018 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 17 Frontdoors editor Karen Werner is a writer, editor and media consultant. She has interned at The New Yorker, worked at Parents Magazine, edited five books and founded several local magazines. Her work has appeared in Sunset, Mental Floss and the Saturday Evening Post. with them. They become like family. Sometimes we may be their only family.” The community has taken note of the impact Diana Gregory is making. She received the 2017 Experience Matters Encore Impact Award; the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Living the Dream Award from the City of Phoenix; and the Small Business of the Year Award from the Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce, among others. BHHS Legacy Foundation was so impressed by the organization’s work, it presented Gregory with a refrigerated van earlier this year to help her deliver fruits and vegetables. “I think we’ve changed a few lives with the nutritional programs,” McClain said. “People come down to that cooking program and say, ‘I didn’t know things could be so easy and taste so good.’” Senior citizens themselves, Weston and McClain have learned a few things while volunteering. “I’ve learned the nutritional values of different things. Go to that little bag in the corner and you’ll see one stem of kale and some apples that I’m going to juice,” Weston said. Tales of improved health abound. One customer lost 100 pounds; others have lowered their cholesterol. “We’ve had some that were taking over 20 medications and are now taking just four,” Gregory said. It’s all part of her plan to enrich the lives of older adults in Arizona, one meal at a time. Back at the VA Medical Center, Gregory has served hundreds of veterans before noon. “These are people that have served our country. And it touches my heart where we want to do more,” she said. “We owe it to them to pay it forward.” Want to Help? More than 100,000 older adults in Maricopa County are living below the poverty level and face significant barriers to accessing fresh, healthy food. To help close the gap, donate to Gregory’s Fresh Market by visiting dianagregory.com or using the United Way designated write-in number, 27-1030793.