Vincent Grossi
Hello, my name is Vincent Ernest Grossi and I am the youngest of three brothers. I was born in Branson Missouri in 1993 and lived there for the first three years of my life while my parents, Joseph and Michelle Grossi were directors of a women's Teen Challenge program. When I was six, we moved to Tucson, Arizona to assist my uncle's church ministry. Only a few years passed before my uncle resigned his church to tend to his parents health in Florida. My father took an opportunity to pastor his own small church in the inner city area of downtown Tucson. My family then grew roots in Tucson, raising us three boys in Christian schools and I had several opportunities for mission trips to Mexico and Native American reservations. One of the most impactful experiences of my childhood and early teenage years was assisting in our church’s local food distribution ministry. I see it as God’s foreshadowing of what my life’s passion would soon turn into…. serving the poor and marginalized people in America.
Just before I was set to graduate high school, our family hit a very tough road when our church district suddenly decided to close our church to use the property for another ministry. This was a rough trial in my life and it truly broke the heart of my family. I found myself searching for perfect Truth amongst the imperfect church. But I found answers in Christ’s love, which was demonstrated through the beauty and awe I began seeing in natural life all around me. I have learned to compare this experience as that of a struggling crowd member standing by for the sermon on the mountain, forever changed by the power of Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
With my new passion in food systems and ecology, God has now taken me from Arizona to India, to Connecticut, and back to Arizona working alongside many different types of farms, gardens and the communities surrounding them. I have grown to see the dining table as a very powerful place that is being neglected in the US today. My belief is that when there is true investment, food can be a great medium for social change around us. My desire is to assist in strengthening local food systems through simply making opportunities for people to connect with real food in fruits and vegetables. I am excited for the future, and desire to take every opportunity to love and serve others as God has chosen to love me.
The Young Adult Volunteer program is a year-long service program for young adults between ages 19 and 30. Read more about the YAV program here
