Promoting School Garden Us to Families/Community

[Sam Koentopp]

Hey SGSO Crew,

Here in Chicago, Big Green is working on a plan to develop and roll out a program that encourages families and community members to actively participate in their school garden care, harvest, sharing. We are envisioning this as support for the gardens while school is in session (spring, fall, & winter) and then transition to full "ownership" over the summer months while school is out. It will provide access to garden space for families without opportunities in their own homes or community garden spaces. Big Green is also in a position to provide participants with networking, workshops, and resource-sharing opportunities. We support ~200 gardens in Chicago Public Schools and see this as an opportunity to increase garden engagement year after year as we develop the project.

We are actively looking for input from folks who convene individuals in a school or community gardens to help us envision systems to organize the work, communications strategies, asset-based approaches to community organizing. Any ideas you have to offer are appreciated!

Thank You,

Sam