In 2021, your gifts to Mazon helped 10 community gardens across Canada activate local volunteers to feed vulnerable people, and taught low-income people to grow their own supplemental food.
Together, these INCREDIBLE programs grew over 37,000 lbs of fresh, healthy food for vulnerable people - much of it possible because of the soil, shovels, seeds, fencing, irrigation equipment, and labour you provided through Mazon's Grant Grants!
Pictured clockwise from top left: Harvest at Hope House; Gardeners at Village of Hope; Volunteer at the PACT program; Community meal at the PACT Program; Potato time at Village of Hope; Radishes at the Local Community Food Centre.
The food included dozens of varieties of fruits, vegetables, nuts and herbs, including:
tomatoes, carrots, beets, squash, peppers, spinach, kale, radishes, squash, potatoes, yams, rainbow chard, arugula, pole beans, lettuce, okra, amaranth greens, horseradish, pumpkins, garlic, cucumbers, cauliflower, eggplant, parsley, delicata squash, cilantro, corn, bush beans, kohlrabi, snap peas, Swiss chard, and more - plus a 30-fruit tree orchard, a berry patch growing 8 kinds of berries and nuts, and a vineyard with 35 varieties of grapes!
Check out how you helped through the Lanark Country Food Bank in Carleton Place, Ontario:
They grow: 4500 lbs of fresh produce, including tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beets, squash and peppers in many gardens across the whole region - including land by schools, libraries, and even private homes.
The food helps: over 3400 clients through their food box and hamper programs. Each box provides 5 days worth of food once a month to those who need it most.
With Mazon's support, they hoped to: double their output this summer - or even more! They had much more land than last year, and through Mazon, they have the resources to seed it, care for it, and protect it from pests. "Our funding was to cover a Gardening Volunteer Co-ordinator so all the volunteers were on site at the right time for the job essential at that moment."
How'd it go?: They succeeded! They grew 10,000 lbs of food has been produced through the gardens, more than double last year!!
Story: "A core group of gardeners have bonded and spread their enthusiasm throughout the entire food bank..."
And learn how a Community Sponsorship affected the Midwest Food Society in North Battleford, SK:
They grow: 13,000 lbs of fresh produce a year, including beets, carrots, spinach, kale, radishes, tomatoes, squash and berries.
The food helps: over 300 families through hampers. The fresh fruits and vegetables are also used kids programs, teaching children and youth about gardening, harvesting and cooking a healthy meal to take home to their family.
With MAZON's support, they hoped to: expand their garden! In late 2020, one family's Community Sponsorship provided funding for a memorial garden through MAZON. MWFR has had the space available for years but no funding to develop the land until now. This garden, with integrated irrigation, dedicated teaching spaces and a special focus on native plants important to the large local Indigenous population, will feed the North Battleford community for years to come, beginning this summer.
How'd it go?: They harvested over 3000 lbs of food in the new garden alone, distributed by their own food bank and a collection of community agencies. "There were just under 1000 boxes given out for free over June - October. This does not even include the [1000 lbs of] food the Food Bank harvest and circulated...."
Stories: "The volunteers formed a strong network while working in the garden. Friendships were made and families worked together."
Check out more stories, quotes and photos from all 10 of our Garden Grant partners here: