Youth Garden Grants

Grants
Youth Garden Grants
By
Apr 15, 2008, 11:33 PST

Each year, The National Gardening Association accepts applications for the Youth Garden Grants program, sponsored by The Home Depot. The deadline is: November 1st. NGA began the Youth Garden Grants program 26 years ago, and has since recognized and rewarded more than 3,500 projects that get kids outdoors and growing!

Photo courtesy of Kevin Law 2008 Creative Commons

To be eligible, applicants must garden with 15 youth ages 3 to 18 in the United States. Past grant winners include public, private, and home schools, preschool and Head Start programs, day care centers, nonprofit agencies, faith-based projects, governmental agencies, community gardens, gardening clubs, and others. To be selected for a grant, applicants must demonstrate projects that are carefully planned, comprehensive, supported by the community, and sustainable. In 2009, 125 grants are available. Packages are as follows:

5 programs will receive a $1000 award consisting of a $500 gift card to The Home Depot and a $500 gift card to NGA's Gardening with Kids catalog and online store
70 programs will receive a $500 gift card to The Home Depot
50 programs will receive a $250 gift card to The Home Depot
All grantees also receive educational materials and curricula from NGA, and NGA supporter benefits for one year

These grants are an important catalyst in the youth gardening world. Grant winner Carolyn Armstrong of Yeokum Middle School in Missouri, says, "The students built the garden from the ground up, literally. They took ownership in planning and constructing the garden, and it spilled over into pride in being members of our school. We would not have been so successful without the generosity of NGA and The Home Depot. Thank you. It's made a huge difference for our kids. We're planning our next project with enthusiasm!"

"Winning a Youth Garden Grant took our ideas from a wish list to reality, by galvanizing the administration, teachers, and most obviously, the kids, into action," says Betsy Stefany about their garden project at Harold Martin School in New Hampshire. "The grant also helped draw in donations and recognition from the community. Without the grant, the garden project might have run slowly out of steam over the course of a few years. But when the grant was announced, we all united."

To learn more and to download an application, please visit the www.kidsgardening.org Web site.

About the Sponsors of the Youth Garden Grants

The Home Depot® is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,246 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and China. In fiscal 2007, The Home Depot had sales of $77.3 billion and earnings from continuing operations of $4.2 billion. The Company employs approximately 350,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

The National Gardening Association (NGA) founded in 1973, is a national nonprofit leader in plant-based education, respected for its award-winning Web sites and newsletters, grants and curricula for youth gardens, and research for the lawn and garden industry. NGA's mission is to advance the personal, community, and educational benefits of gardening by supporting gardeners and teachers with information and resources.

To learn more, please visit www.kidsgardening.org.