Education Kenya Project #34929

Seeds and Support for School Gardens Worldwide

by Seed Programs International

Project Report | Mar 7, 2025
Growing Hope: The Impact of School and Community

By Georgia Beasley | Project Leader

Children learning in the garden

In our ever-evolving world, initiatives that strengthen local food systems and foster community connection are vital. We want to share with you a project here at home in the US, located in Tampa, FL and in partnership with the local nonprofit IDEAS for US. Thanks to your generous contributions, we have been able to work to bolster school and community gardens in the area. These gardens have blossomed into spaces of nourishment, education, and healing for many families and individuals in our community. Read on to learn more about these gardens!

Nurturing Affordable Housing Community Gardens

One of our standout projects this past year has been the enhancement of community gardens at Pathlight Home and Boca Club, where we provided resources to cultivate thriving plant starts in both gardens, creating beautiful spaces for our residents.

The Boca Club Garden: Launched in spring 2024, this garden has developed into a vibrant hub for families. Our monthly garden club meetings have brought residents together, allowing children and parents alike to engage in hands-on gardening activities. Each meeting serves as an opportunity to connect, learn, and grow—both plants and relationships. We look forward to cultivating these connections even further in the coming year!
Pathlight Home Community Garden: This garden plays a crucial role in the lives of over 600 individuals transitioning out of homelessness. Over the past year, the garden has been more than just a source of fresh produce; it has provided nourishment, skills, and hope. With your support, we successfully implemented seasonal refreshes last year, and we are excited to host monthly garden club events in 2025. This initiative has fostered resilience among residents while providing free job training and promoting sustainable practices.

Growing Minds: School Garden Programs

Down the road, your support has also been instrumental in revitalizing the school garden initiatives at ACE, Hungerford Elementary, Jones High School, and Evans High School. These programs engage students aged 6 to 18, transforming gardens into dynamic outdoor classrooms.

Educational Benefits: Our gardens provide hands-on experiences where students learn about plant biology, nutrition, and environmental stewardship. As they cultivate their gardens, they develop critical life skills and a better understanding of where their food comes from. Moreover, by sending fresh vegetables home with students, we are directly combating food insecurity in food desert communities.

Community Spirit in Pine Hills

In 2024, we launched a vibrant community garden in Pine Hills, a neighborhood grappling with food scarcity and a history of violence.

Garden Highlights: This flourishing garden features 12 raised beds, a fruit tree orchard, two pollinator gardens, and an outdoor classroom. Importantly, it serves as a shared resource for both a senior gardening club and 188 children enrolled in the Head Start program, creating opportunities for intergenerational learning.
Connecting Generations: Our bi-weekly classes for Head Start students allow them to dive into hands-on gardening activities, sparking a love for nature and a sense of curiosity about the world around them. For our senior gardening club members, the garden provides not only fresh produce but also a chance to connect with one another, celebrate culture, and cultivate a shared passion for gardening.

Looking Ahead: Cultivating a Brighter Future

Thanks to support from donors like you, we have revitalized community and school gardens, providing essential resources and learning opportunities to those who need them most. As we forward our mission, we remain committed to expanding these initiatives, fostering sustainable practices, and inspiring resilience within our communities.

Together, we are not just growing food; we are cultivating hope, knowledge, and connection. Thank you for your continued support in making a difference in the lives of those we serve. Let’s keep growing!

Abundant harvests and fresh food access!

Kids learning how to grow their own food

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Nov 9, 2024
Expanding Access to Fresh Food in rural Guatemala

By Georgia Beasley | Project Leader

Working together in the garden

In rural Guatemala, many communities face a surprising challenge: food insecurity. Though they work in agriculture, laboring on large plantations that grow bananas and coffee for export, the local diet often lacks fresh, nutritious food. These areas function as food deserts, where affordable, diverse produce is difficult to come by.

Our school greenhouse garden program, now in its second pilot year, is designed to address this challenge. The greenhouse provides schoolchildren with regular access to fresh vegetables, improving their diets and nutritional intake. Beyond this, the greenhouse serves as a resource for the community, enabling families to bring home fresh produce. It has become a small but vital step toward food security, helping families supplement what they eat with nutritious options they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Working alongside our local partner, Amachajul, we’re seeing how impactful this program can be. Families now have a reliable source of fresh food and a place to gather and learn. The greenhouse has become a hub for discussions on healthy eating and basic agricultural practices, fostering a sense of community and empowerment. Through these interactions, people are learning ways to make small changes in their own diets and to rethink food in new ways, even within the limitations of their environment.

The success of this year’s pilot has motivated us to scale up the project. Next year, we aim to expand to six more communities, bringing the benefits of fresh food access and nutritional support to more families in need. By growing this program, we hope to make a larger impact on food security in the region and provide more children and families with tools to support their well-being. Through our ongoing partnership with Amachajul, we’re working toward practical, community-driven solutions to make nutritious food more accessible for everyone.

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Jul 12, 2024
Expanding our reach here in the USA

By Georgia Beasley | Project Leader

Community gardens thriving

Cultivating Change: Expanding Our Reach with Kids Gardening

We're thrilled to announce an exciting new partnership with Kids Gardening, a leading organization dedicated to inspiring and educating children through gardening. This collaboration will enable us to provide resources and support to existing garden programs throughout the US. So far, we are working with 14 new programs, ranging from public school districts, affordable housing communities, master gardeners’ outreach clubs, libraries, and other nonprofit organizations.

By leveraging Kids Gardening's extensive network of community gardens, after-school programs, and school districts across the country, we're able to expand our reach and provide even more children with access to fresh food, hands-on learning, and a deeper connection to nature.

Nurturing the Seeds of a Healthier Future:

Through this partnership, we're not just planting seeds in the ground, but also sowing the seeds of a healthier, more equitable future. By providing resources and support to these existing garden programs, we're empowering children to:

Develop a Lifelong Love for Healthy Food: Access to fresh produce and hands-on gardening experiences fosters a healthy relationship with food.
Learn Essential Life Skills: Gardening teaches children responsibility, patience, and problem-solving skills that extend beyond the garden.
Connect with Nature: Spending time in nature has been shown to improve mental and physical well-being, and gardening is a fantastic way to connect with the natural world.
Build Community: Shared garden spaces foster a sense of belonging and collaboration, creating stronger, more resilient communities.

We're excited to see this partnership blossom and look forward to sharing stories of success and transformation from gardens across the country!

Kids experiencing fresh tomatoes

Links:

Check out our partner Kids Gardening!

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