“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” — Audrey Hepburn 

Hello!

I hope this message finds you well and in high spirits. 

With every spring comes renewed hope and the promise of new beginnings, and it is my hope that you are already reveling in these delightful qualities of the new season.  

And with spring and hope in mind, I am excited to share a few words with you today about our Classroom Gardens program – a program through which students and teachers across all four Ottawa public school boards learn to start and grow indoor gardens. 

Each year, participating schools receive the worms, soil, and other materials they need to transform simple seeds into healthy, yummy vegetables that students get to eat themselves. You must know, reader, that there is nothing better than seeing the result of your handwork, not to mention getting to eat it too! 

The benefits of these classroom gardens are immense. Through them, students get to: 

  • participate in collaborative experiential learning across core areas such as math and science 
  • develop a hands-on connection to healthy eating, nutrition, and sources of food 
  • understand, appreciate and respect nature and its processes 
  • acquire important skills such as patience, hard work, and accountability 
  • HAVE FUN. 

Now more than ever, it is important that children understand the benefits of growing their own food. With rising food costs that already sit at 20 percent over average, and with increasing poverty rates exacerbated by the pandemic, an appreciation of homegrown food could be of value to families. There is nothing like the knowledge and excitement of children to spark the joys of gardening in homes!  

And this is where you come in.  

Participating schools require numerous resources and supplies to continue to provide high-quality garden programs for their students. To add to these existing costs, this year, we are relaunching our tower program after two years of windowsill gardens due to the pandemic. This relaunch and rebuild comes with significant costs as we replace missing supplies, perform routine maintenance, and restore functionalities. We are in many ways the trellis for schools to grow their garden programs, and it is important for us that we have both the short- and long-term capacity to support all participating schools and their little gardeners. We would also like to reach more classrooms and spread the joys of gardening, homegrown food, and healthy eating to more school kids.  

These goals will be challenging to accomplish without your generosity.  

Will you support our Classroom Gardens program today and help Ottawa’s students continue to say yes to healthy eating? 

Recently, we heard a beautiful story from a mother whose son is in a participating class in our program. Having been unable to check on the gardens as planned one day, her son, the moment he woke up the next morning, said out of the blue, “I hope I get to see the gardens today.” 

This is the excitement and eagerness that our program creates for kids. In a world of abnormalities and uncertainty, there is nothing like the steady blossoming of seedlings to give some much-needed hope and anticipation. 

And this is what I meant by you sowing seeds of hope. By supporting our Classroom Gardens program today, you are not just helping kids grow gardens. You are adding to their excitement, knowledge, and hope. You are teaching them to respect the environment and the ecosystem of which they form a part. You are also encouraging them – like the gardens they dutifully tend to – to flourish, through balanced nutrition, hard work, and persistence.  

Will you help nurture these important qualities in Ottawa’s school kids? 

Whether you own a garden or not, you can help sow seeds today.  

Say you are ready to do this.

Thank you for all the support. We cannot do what we do without the generosity of individuals like you.

Sincerely, 

[Photo] 

Carolyn Hunter, 
Director, Classroom Gardens program 

PS: If you do have plants or gardens of your own, we would love to see them! Share them with us via Instagram by tagging us (@onfe-rope). 

Learn more about our Classroom Gardens program

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