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Grow Your Park

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NRPA is pleased to partner with the  Darden Foundation to award grants for community garden projects benefiting low-income families through the 2013 Grow Your Park program.  

 

The following communities are participating this year:  

  • Rosemont Park District - Rosemount, IL

  • San Gabriel Valley Conservation & Services Corps - El Monte, CA

  • Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region - Washington, DC

  • Friends of Van Cortlandt Park - Bronx, NY

  • Town of Huntersville Parks and Recreation Department - Huntersville, NC

  • West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, Inc. - Atlanta, GA

  • Youth Empowerment through Learning, Leading, and Serving, Inc. - Atlanta, GA

  • Mesa Urban Garden - Mesa, AZ

  • City of Des Moines Parks, Recreation and Senior Services - Des Moines, WA 

Research through Grow Your Park has shown that community gardens contribute a number of positive impacts on participants and the surrounding community, such as

  1. Supporting community health and wellness, and healthy lifestyles
  2. Creating and strengthening intergenerational connections
  3. Revitalizing neighborhood parks
  4. Providing access to fresh produce and affordable nutritious food
  5. Promoting self-sufficiency
  6. Strengthening community through public-nonprofit partnerships
  7. Growing connections to the natural environment
  8. Supporting children’s physical and emotional development
  9. Encouraging youth entrepreneurship and “green” career paths
 
      
 Community Gardening Handbook
NRPA has produced a Community Gardening Handbook specifically designed for park and recreation agencies to plan, fund, implement, and sustain community garden programs. This resource will help park and recreation professionals better serve their communities by increasing youth participation, nutritional awareness, and stewardship. 
 
 View The Handbook 

 

 Case Studies and Best Practices 
The 2010-2011 Grow Your Park Case Studies and Best Practices publication highlighs successful community garden projects across the country.

View The Case Studies       

 

Thanks to past support from the J.R. Albert Foundation and the National Recreation Foundation, Grow Your Park grants have been awarded to the following communities since 2010:  

  • Pensacola, Florida - Pensacola Parks and Recreation
  • Iowa City, Iowa - Iowa City Parks and Recreation
  • Evanston, Illinois - Evanston Parks, Recreation and Community Services
  • Pekin, Illinois - Pekin Park District
  • Peoria, Illinois - Peoria Park District
  • Rockford, Illinois - Rockford Park District
  • Topeka, Kansas - Topeka Parks and Recreation
  • Shreveport, Louisiana - Shreveport Public Assembly and Recreation
  • Baltimore, Maryland - The Friends of Patterson Park
  • Lansing, Michigan - Lansing Parks and Recreation
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota - Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
  • Oxford, Mississippi - Oxford Park Commission
  • Lincoln, Nebraska - Lincoln Parks and Recreation
  • Omaha, Nebraska - Omaha Parks, Recreation and Public Property
  • Reno, Nevada - Reno Parks, Recreation & Community Services
  • Dayton, Ohio - Five Rivers MetroParks
  • Springfield, Ohio - National Trail Parks and Recreation District
  • Eugene, Oregon - Eugene Recreation
  • Columbia, South Carolina - Richland County Recreation Foundation
  • McAllen, Texas - McAllen Parks and Recreation
                                      
For more information about the Grow Your Park program, contact Jimmy O’Connor.

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