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Since you’ve read how we began, we want to share why we need your help now.

Our biggest challenge is basic infrastructure. We are working to get approval for a small storage building that will let us store tools, add a  water source, and provide a restroom option for volunteers. Right now there is no water on site. We haul five gallon containers from home. There is no secure place for shovels, rakes, hoses, wheelbarrows, or supplies. If the building is approved, most of our personal money will go into that project, and we will not have funds left for plants, soil, and programming. That is why fundraising this year is so important.

Almost everything at The Garden has been built with donated materials, repurposed items, and money that has come straight from our own pockets. The fences, beds, soil, plants, signs, and art have all been pieced together through creativity, favors, and a lot of sweat. We are proud of how far this has taken us, but it is not enough to keep the project stable. To move from fragile to secure, we need help covering the costs we cannot recycle or find secondhand.

Your support does a few very specific things. It helps us bring in more soil, compost, and soil amendments so every bed can stay healthy and productive. It helps us add cattle panels, T posts, and hardware for sturdy trellising and safer growing spaces. It helps us build a simple water and irrigation system so we are not hauling heavy containers back and forth. It helps us plant more native pollinator plants and add gravel to driveways and low spots so volunteers are not standing in mud or getting stuck on land that was filled after demolition. Most of all, it gives us a little room to handle the costs we have not even discovered yet in this first year of building a garden from the ground up. It helps us host free events and workshops for kids, families, and neighbors who may not otherwise have access to a space like this.

In less than one year, we and our neighbors have taken an empty lot and turned it into a community garden that truly belongs to the people around it. Children have planted their first seeds here. Scouts have earned badges here. Families have met each other here. Artists from ages five and up  have left their mark on the fence. We have seen shy neighbors show up with a rake and leave with new friends. All of that is worth protecting and growing.

We have many plans for the future. We want to expand and add more fruit trees so families can snack straight from the garden. We want to grow more fresh produce to share. We want to add more educational signs and host regular programs for schools, scouts, and community groups. We want to add more seating. We want this to be a place where people feel welcome, useful, and proud of where they live.

What we need now is the support to match that energy. Your gift, at any size, helps us move from surviving on scraps to building something that can last. Together, we can keep this garden growing, keep this lot out of neglect forever, and show what is possible when neighbors decide to care for a place together.