Theme: Finding Funds
and Support
Transforming Schoolyards
Raising Funds
and Building Support
You're ready to start raising funds and recruiting volunteers
for your school garden project, and you need just one more thing
to get you rolling: to hear the encouraging voices of peers
who have succeeded. After all, if they could do it, so can you!
Here are a few vignettes from teachers in our gardening network.
We hope they'll inspire ideas for tapping in to local sources
of funds and support.
Piecing it Together: A Medley
of Methods
Pam Chamblin, a teacher and Gardening Committee member at the
Poquoson (VA) Elementary School writes, "Don't try to do it
all by yourself. The more people and classes involved in planning
and gardening, the better it will be." The committee launched
the school's gardens and habitats with grants from the school
board, and also found enthusiastic support from the area food
bank. "Their gardening coordinator helped with planning, provided
instruction and seeds, and joined us on a field trip to Tuckahoe
Elementary in Arlington, VA, to see their garden." When the
spring workday was scheduled, they recruited volunteers via
the school newsletter. "Parents, teachers, administrators, and
elementary and high school students came out to help build our
new beds, put in bird feeders, plant, and weed. That afternoon
at our celebration, the food bank provided our meal." Thanks
to all of the enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated by the
school and community, the PTO has adopted the school gardens
as their project. "They'll help us with money, materials, and
people power for our fall and spring gardening days. We have
a parent coordinator this year, too."
Many garden projects depend on small gifts from myriad places.
Debra Tate-Anderson, art teacher for Strodes Mills Middle School
in Lewistown, PA, has pieced together donations, funding, and
volunteer efforts like a colorful quilt. Like many garden coordinators,
she anted up first. "I offered teachers life-sized, acrylic
painted, cardboard portraits and collected over $100 for the
garden. The teachers post their look-a-likes outside their classrooms."
She welcomed plant donations from parents, teachers, staff,
and community members, which filled their 3,000 square foot
garden in no time. "Simply letting people know what we are doing
continues to bring plenty of free plants." A grant from a local
organization yielded $350 for materials to construct picnic
tables; the county vocational students built the tables for
free. An Eagle Scout has offered to build a grape arbor, at
his expense. The local garden club planted a dogwood tree for
the school's Arbor Day celebration and recently obtained 70
trees for the school via a grant.
"I was first inspired to have the kids turn our enclosed courtyard
into a garden and habitat when I attended the Children's Garden
Symposium a few years back," says Joanne Bauer, third grade
teacher at Lower Southampton (PA) Elementary School. Knowing
that a schoolyard transformation would require lots of allies,
Joanne took PTA president with her the following year. This
strategy helped open the PTA's eyes to the possibilities, and
they established a "habitat account" to provide funds for plants
and new projects. Staff members wrote and received grants from
the school district, local and national educational organizations,
and Ames department stores.
Student entrepreneurs also took the initiative. They held bake
sales, sold daffodil bulbs, and created and marketed first-aid
kits and "Habitat Hannah" dolls (with clothing make from flowers
and seed packets). Parents and local businesses have donated
and discounted plants and other materials. "As businesses have
seen the school's commitment to the project, it has become much
easier to solicit donations," Joanne explains. "We have found
that the more you document your progress and the more you can
show what you have accomplished, people are more willing to
help you with what you need. It is important to show that you
have made a serious commitment to completing and maintaining
the project."
Businesses Act Locally
"The Internet is a great source for locating grants," notes
Mary Thomas, a parent volunteer at Joyner Elementary School
in Tupelo, MS, "but yours is one of thousands of applications.
Try your local businesses and government agencies first. It
took me over a year of letter writing and grant writing, as
well as personal visits, but I was able to raise over $30,000
for our outdoor environmental center. It took a lot of determination
and time, but we now have a great outdoor classroom that the
district could not otherwise afford." She emphasizes the importance
of community businesses as invested partners. "You would be
surprised how many local stores and businesses right in your
community set aside funds for nonprofit groups, and they love
putting their money toward education," explains Mary. "Approach
chain stores and government agencies. Our local newspaper gave
$2,000 and a regional power company donated $3,000. Nurseries,
garden clubs, as even industrial companies were very generous."
Mary recommends thinking beyond dollars to potential in-kind
donations. "A bell tower is part of our center, so we approached
a local architectural firm for help. They agreed to design the
structure. We then visited a steel manufacturer, and they donated
materials and built our tower's frame. Another firm gave us
a discount on concrete for our sidewalks and tower platform,
and a local contractor allowed us to charge bricks to his account.
The bricklayer was so impressed with our garden and how it was
being utilized, he donated $200 of his fee back to our project."
Nancy Sklavos-Gillett of Mount Olive High School in Flanders,
NJ, corroborates Mary's assessment. "Though locating funding
is probably the single most difficult aspect of creating a schoolyard
habitat, many community businesses will provide donations of
either tools/materials or gift certificates. Large chain stores
such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's are good places to
start, but smaller businesses are also willing to help. Approaching
them with information on the project and politely requesting
donations generally reaps positive results. A sense of humor
helps tremendously, too."
Budding Business Nets Profit
In schools throughout the country, students are using their
gardening savvy as a springboard for green business ventures.
Dedicated volunteers and creative partnerships with businesses
promote project sustainability, reports Judy Sims of Monte Vista
Elementary School in Santa Barbara, CA. Her school's garden,
started with funds from a garden-supported nutrition initiative,
lead to an entrepreneurial farmer's market project. Thanks to
dedicated volunteers and local farmers, the market is going
strong. "Our Farmer's Market program is only as good as the
person's running it," says Judy. "Without [volunteer] Grandma
Elizabeth, it wouldn't be sustainable. The fresh, organic produce,
nursery-grown plants, and flowers, all sold to us at wholesale,
make it a truly viable venture. While our garden does offer
some produce depending on the season, we certainly rely on other
sources to have regular and varied offerings." The students
deposit their revenue in a checking account donated by the local
bank. They use their profit to buy plants for the garden and
nature trail, fund field trips to local farms, and supply more
food for their healthy snack program. And they've enjoy the
rewards of being on the giving end, too, by donating money to
environmental education causes. (Read about this project and
others in the Growing a School Garden Business section of our
Thematic Explorations Library.)
Student Enthusiasm Fills
Coffers
"Our Global Outdoor Classroom, representing Asia, North America,
and Europe was designed and built by students," says Judy Miller,
a retired teacher and current garden volunteer in Appleton,
WI. "Our garden club of 20 to 30 students meets weekly to maintain
the area. We have received no funding from the city or school
district, but have received donations of cash and plants from
the community. We've raised money via grants and by selling
T-shirts, flower bulbs, and cinnamon rolls, but our greatest
pleasure is our plant sale in May. All winter and spring, students
start vegetable and flower seedlings and propagate donated houseplants
to sell to other students and their families. They love it."
What do you do when an unbudgeted expense crops up? Dawn Bradley,
garden coordinator at Tomahawk Elementary in Overland Park,
Kansas, put out a call to the school community. "We needed a
new pump for our pond, but had no funds. We sent out a newsletter
to all of the students and families in our neighborhood informing
them that we were having a 'Pennies for the Pond' fundraiser.
I placed 5-gallon water bottles all over the school, and asked
that the children bring their loose change. We raised $425 in
two weeks - enough to replace the pump with some left over for
the garden fund. The fundraiser was a good experience for the
children. They loved watching money appear in the bottles."
Jayne Devencenzi is a school counselor who gardens with emotionally
disturbed students in the San Luis (CA) Coastal Unified School
District. Like other school gardeners, Jayne is grateful for
the support of the community. "We have depended on the hospitality
of local businesses to keep our gardens growing. They have donated
compost, wood chips, and hundreds of seedlings." But the students
are also interested in helping themselves. "When the elementary
class needed a wheelbarrow, they brainstormed ways to raise
the money, and decided to sell cuttings of our scented geraniums
at a local botanical garden festival. When my middle school
and high school classes heard about the need, they volunteered
to build birdhouses to sell, and donated the money to the cause.
Ultimately, we raised enough money to buy a wheelbarrow and
many other needed tools."
Jayne adds, "As the success of our gardening projects grows,
so does the support for them. I now have volunteers who come
to help work in the gardens. It's a win-win situation: The students
get to work with garden mentors, friendships are formed, flowers
bloom, vegetables are raised, and all the while hearts are being
healed."
Author: Eve Pranis
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