Two School Garden Grant Opportunities

The gardening season is finally here in Wisconsin.  And with that comes the cost of implementing your gardening dreams.

Here are a couple of grant opportunities to help make those dreams reality...

Learn and Serve America Grant (Grant deadline: June 15, 2010)

Wisconsin Department of Instruction (DPI) is offering grants to fund service learning projects for the 2010-2011 school year.  As DPI explains, the grant "supports service-learning in K-12 school to support the implementation and institutionalization of service-learning as a key instructional methodology for teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills across the curriculum."

School garden programs offer a perfect service learning opportunity as students plan, organize, and create their garden project.  Plus, there are countless curriculum connections possible.
Check out DPI's website for a grant application and additional details.  While the application and guidelines are quite lengthy, it is worth checking out!


AMA Healthy Living Grant Program (Grant deadline: July 15, 2010)

The AMA Foundation created this grant to address our nation's major health issues, including obesity, tobacco, and alcohol.  "These grants provide critical funding that can jumpstart a project, affect change quickly, increase visibility for a project/organization, encourage collaboration and make a lasting difference in a community."

An estimated 15-25 grants, valued up $5,000 each, will be distributed to nonprofit organizations that address issues of nutrition/physical fitness; alcohol, substance abuse and smoking prevention; and violence prevention.

A school garden program is a natural fit for the Nutrition/Physical Fitness category.  Applicants in this category must include at least one nutrition objective and one physical activity objective.  School gardens encourage healthy eating by increasing children's knowledge and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.   Plus, gardening is a great form of physical activity.  The learning possibilities and objectives are endless!

For additional information, requirements and an application, click here!