- Lake County News reports
- Posted On
NCO Gardens Project launches fundraiser to continue growing
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – An effort to ensure more people in Lake and Mendocino counties have access to nutritious fresh produce is launching an online fundraising event in April.
The North Coast Opportunities Gardens Project relies on government grants and community fundraising to continue to expand and sustain its network of gardens.
On April 4, the Gardens Project will be launching the “Let’s E.A.T.” online fundraising campaign to raise $20,000 to support current and future community garden projects.
E.A.T. is an acronym that stands for “Empower,” “Access” and “Teach,” which is what they aim to do with the funds raised.
With $20,000, the Gardens Project will be able to “Empower 20 new gardeners through leadership training, create access to 4 new gardens benefiting 400 family members and teach 15 gardening and nutrition workshops to more than 200 people.”
One in seven Americans lack access to fresh, healthy, affordable food. For them, every day is a struggle to find enough food to eat. Many do not have reliable access to enough food, in part because they cannot afford it.
In Mendocino County and Lake County those numbers are one in six and one in five people, respectively.
People in Lake and Mendocino counties experience hunger at higher rates than the national average because rural areas have high unemployment rates, low-wage jobs and lack of transportation to reliable food sources.
The Gardens Project of North Coast Opportunities seeks to relieve hunger and inadequate nutrition throughout Mendocino and Lake counties by creating access to community-based food production and local, nutritious food.
Since its founding in 2007, the Gardens Project has helped establish 38 successful community and school gardens. These gardens produce 28,470 pounds of produce and feed more than 3,000 people annually.
Each year, more than 200 people attend free workshops on food production and healthy eating in both Mendocino and Lake counties. And, since 2011, they have trained more than 75 gardeners to become positive leaders in their communities to ensure effective management and sustainability of community gardens.
In November 2015, the Gardens Project expanded further into Lake County.
Project Coordinator Ava Ryan already has begun work on two community gardens in Clearlake and is “currently investigating numerous other sites throughout the county, and hope[s] to have at least three gardens finished by the end of 2016.”
“Being able to grow in the community garden saves me a lot of money on organic produce. It greatly increases the diversity of the foods I eat,” said Shannon Kleiber, garden leader at Vinewood Park Community Garden in Ukiah. “The garden is also very therapeutic for me.”
Community gardens create a positive local environmental impact for pollinators, wildlife, healthy soils and air. These gardens also encourage healthy eating and connecting with nature for everyone involved.
Thanks to her participation in her local community garden, Klieber said, “I have met and built amazing friendships with people in my community.”
“I’ve been growing stuff and I’ve really liked it because it’s so much cheaper than the stores, the stores are crazy. I mean, look at all this [she points to her raised bed full of greens] and I still have stuff, and I’ve been picking off this for two months. I can give some to the neighbors and everything,” said Ruth Smith of her community plot.
Smith is mostly wheelchair-bound and her raised bed plot makes growing food easy and accessible for her.
The demand for new gardens is high. A survey conducted in Lake County found that 36 percent of low-income respondents would participate in a community garden if they had access to one.
Ryan said she currently has “at least 100 people interested and waiting for a community garden in northern Lake County.”
In Mendocino County there are existing lists of at least five to 10 families at every community garden waiting to receive the opportunity to have a plot of their own, according to Mendocino Project Coordinator Stephanie Logsdon.
In a recent Lake County survey, 47 percent of respondents said that the lack of community gardens was a major barrier to healthy food consumption.
The demand for fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables exists and the Gardens Project needs the support of the community to bring the gardens to the people.
You can view and make a donation to the Let’s E.A.T. campaign at https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/let-s-e-a-t .
In addition to the online fundraiser, the Gardens Project team also will be hosting a series of events and garden workdays for Earth Day.
On Saturday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., come out, stake some plots, build raised beds and eat some barbecue in the community garden at the Highlands Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake.
On Sunday, April 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. help the Clearlake Food Pantry Garden get ready for the season by doing clean up, weeding and filling beds with compost.
For more information, contact Ava Ryan in Lake County at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-994-4647, Extension 131, view the Gardens Project Facebook page or visit www.gardensproject.org .