Boston Gal's Open Wallet

Parsons, who was laid off from his job as an electrician last November, says he's raised about 22,000 pounds of food since last April and given nearly all of it to food banks and other charities.

"He sees this as something he can do for the Lord and for the poor, as well," says his friend Dave Tims, who has brought volunteers to the garden to help out.

Parsons began the garden about two years ago, and the loss of his job, while a concern, did give him more time to work at it, he said, as he loaded zucchini and squash into his pickup at the four-acre garden on the city's northern edge.

This day, the food would be delivered to the Sioux Falls Food Pantry downtown. Other donations have gone to The Banquet, which serves free meals to the city's needy.

"I know exactly what everybody out there who is unemployed is feeling," he says. "I get people who come out and they say, 'I know this family, and they're hurting.' Just like I was when I got laid off. So I just start taking wheelbarrows of food to them."

Parsons, 49, is a survivor of testicular cancer. He grew up in Woonsocket, S.D., an upbringing that he says taught him the value of charity.

"We were taught to be this way, to help people," he says. "When you grow up out here in the Midwest and you're farmers, you tend to help each other out."

Since losing his job, Parsons says he's been making ends meet through a variety of sources including his wife Samantha's income from her job at Sioux Falls packaging company and some financial help from friends and relatives. He is still looking for a job.