Who We Are
The GardenWorks Project is a grass-roots, volunteer-led project working to
relieve hunger by providing individuals and families in need with vegetable
gardens and coaching in Chicago's west suburbs. We help families who would
otherwise not be able to grow their own food because of financial need, a
disability, or advanced age. The GardenWorks Project works with area
non-profits to identify undernourished families who want to grow their own
food.
Our mission is to provide a vegetable garden to anyone in
our service population who wants to grow their own food. We believe that
everyone deserves fresh produce, not only those who have the physical and
financial means to afford it.
Through our residential gardens, we teach organic home
vegetable gardening in a way that promotes self-sufficiency, pride, and good
stewardship of the Earth. Our community gardens provide fresh, organic produce
to families who are not able to care for a home vegetable garden.
What We Do
- In 2012 we installed 4 home gardens for clients
of the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.
- In 2013 we installed 10 new home gardens and
refreshed 3 from 2012. We forged partnerships with Bridge Communities and
People’s Resource Center to identify families in need. We also planted,
harvested, and donated food to the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry from our 30x30
community garden plot. In all, 63 people
in these 13 households will have access to fresh, organic, hyper-locally grown
vegetables in addition to countless families who benefitted from fresh produce
through the pantry donations.
Our 2014 Goal
- In 2014, we want to provide 20 new families with
the resources needed to grow food at home. We want to continue with our goal of
reducing hunger in our community while taking pressure of our local food
pantries and our food system.
- We want to refresh our 10 gardens from last year
with fresh soil and compost so that those families can continue to build on the
skills they’ve learned.
- We want to improve the health of the soil at our
community gardens space in Glen Ellyn with the addition of compost, and purchase
the plants and seeds that will eventually feed clients of the Glen Ellyn Food
Pantry.
- We want to provide educational sessions for our
clients and the community on topics ranging from organic gardening, to composting,
to cooking homegrown foods.
- Four food pantries and/or social service organizations refer clients to our project: Glen Ellyn Food Pantry, Bridge Communities, People's Resource Center, and Hosanna Lutheran Church food pantry. We want to partner with one additional group so that we can further expand our reach in DuPage County.
How Your Contribution
Helps
Funds raised from this campaign will be used to:
- Purchase lumber, soil, compost, plant, seeds,
tools, and other supplies for our residential gardens and our community garden
space.
- Organize educational events for our clients and
the community.
- Support administrative functions such as web hosting fees, marketing
materials, and volunteer continuing education.
Perks!
Give, and you get! For each contribution to our fundraising campaign, you can
select from a number of perks. From logo key fobs and t-shirts, to books, to a
raised bed garden built, filled, and planted for you. We very much appreciate
your contribution and dedication to the cause of helping the hungry in our
community grow their own food.
Other Ways You Can Help
- Volunteer! Our gardens builds begin in May, and
we would love for you to invest about an hour of your time to provide someone
with a raised bed garden so that they can enjoy fresh produce throughout the
growing season.
- Like us on Facebook so that you can get current
project updates straight to your news feed and share our news with your social
network.
- Visit our website to learn more about what we
are doing to reduce hunger in our community and how you can get involved.
- SHARE! You may have friends that would like to
get involved.
Thank you!
And many thanks to our dedicated volunteers and donors who have made it possible for us to do this work, including Sweet Home Organics, Glen Ellyn Park District, Whole Foods Wheaton, LUSH Cosmetics Oak Brook, Renee's Seeds, Tanya Denckla Cobb, and Storey Publishing.
