Dear Fellow City Growers,
Each year, City Growers has created innovative new food and environmental education programs, steadily expanded the number of students who participate in them, and ensured that children from low income families comprise the lion’s share of our participants. We could not accomplish all of this without our incredible community of supporters: the people, companies, elected officials, foundations, schools, parents, and government agencies that provide grants, donations, sponsorships, and program revenue make what we do possible. Some highlights from FY2017:
- City Growers launched Summer in the Soil, an urban agriculture camp for elementary and middle school-aged kids based at PS 20 in Brooklyn. Thanks to continued funding from NYC’s Department of Youth and Community Development, 30 kids spent their summers growing, learning, and exploring NYC’s green spaces, free of charge.
- In February, the City Growers Education Conference brought over 340 educators together to share knowledge, inspiration, and best practices in farm- and garden-based education. The City Growers Education Conference showcases the many ways that urban green spaces can be utilized to teach, empower, and nurture young people. Together, we can bring garden-based learning to more children in NYC.
- Thanks to the Kettering Family Foundation, we launched a new program at a new location: Urban Ecology at the Naval Cemetery Landscape right outside the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We’re thrilled to partner with fellow environmental nonprofit Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, who manage the site, to deliver a dynamic, place-based native plant and pollinator workshop for elementary schools.
- In 2017 alone, 7,264 students participated in our programs. Thanks to support from New York City Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Stephen Levin, companies like Con Edison, and foundations like the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, 70% of participating children attended Title 1 (high poverty) schools.
We believe that getting students’ hands in the “black gold” atop green roof farms brings STEM subjects to life. We believe that every kid should experience the wonder of harvesting a brightly-colored carrot that they planted as a tiny seed just weeks earlier. In order to turn these beliefs into experiences for the children who need them most, we rely on you. As you’ll see from the images in this report, the fruits of our collective labor have certainly paid off. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cara Chard
Executive Director
