GARDENS FOR KIDS

Kids Need Your Help
To Grow

Many Los Angeles urban communities have scarce and unsafe public parks that leave children with few opportunities to interact with the natural environment. Every child should have the opportunity to garden. It's an activity that can help us keep our children off the streets and excited about learning and beautifying their living environments. But gardens need funding to help purchase the materials necessary to create and maintain them so children can watch the miracle of planting their first seed and experience the wonder of seeing that seed sprout into a dream.

In January, 2000, the Mayor of Los Angeles included $100,000 in the city budget and created the umbrella group "Gardens For Kids L.A." The group will be managed by the city's Evironmental Affairs Department to continue to enable children to learn hands-on about the environment, science, culture, history and good nutrition. The school garden program, which will continue the "Gardens For Kids" goal to have a "garden at every school", will also receive $175,000 from the California Integrated Waste Management Board to promote composting and recycling. A program to create an agricultural education curriculum program will be funded by $300,000 from the State budget as well as private donations.

To start a school gardening program in your area, contact your Cooperative Extension Agency and Master Gardener Program for ideas, materials and volunteers. Enlist the support of your Parent-Teacher Association, school board, the State Agriculture Department and private foundations for available grant funding. Children will learn more about a wide variety of subjects by working in a gardening than they will by reading about it in a textbook!

gardensforkids@usa.net

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