York Community High School receives grant from Whole Kids Foundation(R) for school garden.

York Community High School (York) will receive a grant to build a garden through Whole Kids Foundation’s School Garden Grant Program, which was created in partnership with FoodCorps to help schools grow students’ relationships with food through gardening.

The Foundation has extended over $5 million in grant funds to over 2,750 schools and garden-related nonprofits throughout the country, which will support a broad range of projects including raised bed garden construction, vertical gardens and larger-scale expansions in schools, outdoor classroom projects, composting and rainwater collection. York’s Garden Club was formed in 2014 with an enthusiastic group of students led by Environmental Science teacher Lauren Yun and English teacher Andrew Bendelow. The club’s mission is to create engaging educational experiences for students of all abilities; to integrate students, staff, and community groups in growing projects; to grow produce for school food service, consumer sciences, and local food pantries; to learn square-foot and other efficient garden methods; to grow native, ornamental, and sensory plants; and to design gardens that are sustainable, maintainable, and in the long-term, profitable.



“We couldn’t have started without seed money from the Thiems Grant program of the District 205 Foundation,” Bendelow said, “while Blue Freedoms Gardens generously provided the plants for raised beds,” which students built on the north side of the school’s campus in July 2014.

Team Depot of The Home Depot, Northlake assisted in the construction of three large compost bins in that location. The Crestview and Elmhurst Garden Clubs contributed monetary contributions to the club’s first projects in 2014, and three members of EGC have provided guidance to the club: Lisa Peterson, landscape designer and horticulturist, Norma Farrell, past president of EGC, and Jan Foster, funding researcher grant specialist. The club’s current plans include turning an under-utilized courtyard at the school into a visually-appealing garden and learning environment accessible to all students.

“The garden will include an outdoor classroom and raised vegetable beds with cold frames to extend the growing season,” said Bendelow. “The plan calls on students enrolled in woods and industrial technology classes to build the beds and assist with the construction of a handicap-accessible walkway surrounded by native, ornamental and sensory plants. Art students will create sculptural art installations and decorative signage. We envision the courtyard garden branching through the entire curriculum at York,” he said. 
 


If you are interested in assisting in this project in some fashion, please e-mail Mr. Andrew Bendelow:abendelow@elmhurst205.org.

“We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for the School Garden Grant Program,” says Nona Evans, executive director of Whole Kids Foundation. “It is so inspiring to see the diversity and creativity in the types of gardens that will be planted across the country and the interaction between the students and their communities.” In addition to funding, each grant recipient will receive a package of garden starter items, including seeds from High Mowing Organics, and a School Garden Resource Guide with a wealth of information on resources and how to build and sustain gardens to ensure long-term success.

Jan Foster said that being awarded this grant is both a privilege and responsibility. Not only do we have the opportunity to beautify our school’s courtyard and to make it fully functional, but we also have an opportunity to introduce our students to the life-long pleasures of gardening and horticulture. Even more fundamentally, we will be able to demonstrate the simplicity and significance of growing vegetables “up close and personal.” Students will be able to try new foods, learn cooking methodologies, learn about the nutrient value of vegetables, and learn how healthy eating results in healthier bodies. This project will encourage school departments, students, teachers, parents and the community to work together for the school. Once the raised vegetable gardens are established students will learn the value of sharing their efforts with classes within the school and with our local food pantry. For more information on how to apply for a school garden grant and learn about additional Whole Kids Foundation programs, visit: wholekidsfoundation.org.

About Whole Kids Foundation™ Whole Kids Foundation, a Whole Foods Market foundation, is based in Austin, Texas, and operates as an independent, nonprofit organization. By empowering schools and inspiring families, the Foundation aims to help children reach optimal health through the strength of a healthy body fueled by nutritious food. For more information on the Foundation’s programs including school gardens, salad bars and nutrition education for teachers, visit wholekidsfoundation.org.

About FoodCorps FoodCorps is a national nonprofit that seeks to reverse childhood obesity by increasing children’s knowledge of, engagement with and access to healthy food. The centerpiece of its work is an AmeriCorps public service program that recruits young leaders for a year of service in high-obesity, limited-resource communities of need. Service members build and tend school gardens, conduct hands-on nutrition education and facilitate Farm to School programming that brings high quality, local food into schools. For more information, visit foodcorps.org.