Funding
Ah the big question – funding! In this day and age when it seems to be getting harder and harder to fund our schools, we have to get creative in order to implement new programs like school gardens, cooking clubs, culinary arts classes, and cafeteria taste testing.
Below you will find a library of funding resources relevant to western Massachusetts school districts from grants to intensive professional development programs to ideas for soliciting local sponsorship. These are great ways to start programs with the ultimate goal always being to get the program codified into the school budget.
Ideas for Local Cash Donations and/or Sponsorship
- Local gardening club
- Local banks
- School PTOs
- Local Education Fund or Foundation
- Local Universities and Colleges
- Local hospitals, health centers, and accountable care organizations
- Local health insurance providers
- Local grocery stores and food coops
- Local YMCA
- Local community organizations and non profits
- Local utility companies
- Other local small businesses
- Existing community partners of your school district
Ideas for Local In-Kind Donations
- Local hardware stores and garden centers (tools, lumber, seeds, etc.)
- Local farmers cooperatives (tools, lumber, seeds, etc.)
- Local vegetable production farms (old seeds and tools)
- Tree companies and local DPW (wood mulch)
- Local compost and soil producers (soil)
Grants for the Entire Farm to School Program
- USDA/FNS – Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program
- MA DESE – Massachusetts FRESH (Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health) Grant Program
- Amelia Peabody Foundation
- Kendall Foundation
- United Way of the Franklin and Hampshire Region
Grants for School Garden Infrastructure
- Whole Foods Market Foundation Garden Grant Program
- Massachusetts Ag in the Classroom Mini Grants
- Kids Gardening Grants
- Seed Money
Grants and Professional Development for School Meal Programs