Support Cuyama Valley Victory Gardens!
$8,500 covers the full costs of installing 17 new gardens and supporting 17 additional families through the Cuyama Valley Victory Gardens Program.
In United States history, Victory Gardens were a critical part of the war effort feeding families while other food was rationed or sent to soldiers overseas during both World Wars. Our Cuyama Valley Victory Gardens project was initiated during the food shortages and economic hardship at the start of the pandemic, utilizing peer-to-peer and garden-to-table models to empower families to find food security within their own backyards.
With educational and material support by area foundations, 11 home gardens were installed in 2020 and 20 more in 2021. This gardening network model has functioned as an invitation for participants to step into volunteer and leadership roles in the Valley while encouraging their children to get fresh air and learn DIY skills. The earliest participants mentor new gardeners and teach workshops on seasonal plantings and food preservation in our community garden education center and our community kitchen.
In our recent Cuyama Valley Community Survey, 84% of Cuyama residents reported doing virtually all of their grocery shopping outside the Valley in Taft, Bakersfield, or Santa Maria. The majority of Cuyama Valley residents are low income and still facing food insecurity while we recover from the pandemic, so we recently secured grant funding from a private foundation to cover our staff time coordinating this project for a third year.
We have a waiting list of 17 families eager to join the 31 families who received gardens in 2020 and 2021. A secured Fund for Santa Barbara grant of $10,000 covers hours for our staff, workshop teacher stipends, mentorship stipends, and interpretation for workshops. We are seeking $8,500 to cover all supplies costs for 17 additional gardens to install this summer.
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