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By Bobbie Whitehead
Fiskars Brand® Inc. has opened the application process for its 7th annual Project Orange Thumb®, a community gardens program.
The program, established in 2002, will offer 20 grants for community garden projects in the United States and Canada. Deadline for the 2010 Project Orange Thumb® grant program is February 19.
Fiskars’ community garden grants provide up to $2,000 in grant funding – about $1,000 each for garden tools as well as green goods such as plants, seeds, mulch and other green items. Grant recipients also receive Project Orange Thumb® T-shirts.
Fiskars Brand® Inc. has opened the application process for its 7th annual Project Orange Thumb®, a community gardens program.
The program, established in 2002, will offer 20 grants for community garden projects in the United States and Canada. Deadline for the 2010 Project Orange Thumb® grant program is February 19.
Fiskars’ community garden grants provide up to $2,000 in grant funding – about $1,000 each for garden tools as well as green goods such as plants, seeds, mulch and other green items. Grant recipients also receive Project Orange Thumb® T-shirts.
Tomatoes were planted in the Wheeler School Community Garden in Providence, R.I., a 2009 Project Orange Thumb® grant recipient. (Photo Courtesy of Fiskars Brand® Inc.)
“The money grant recipients receive for the green goods is only for green goods,” said Nicole Mayasich, Fiskars public relations representative.
Last year, some of the Project Orange Thumb® grant recipients included TRUNA Community Garden/Greenville City Harvest in Greenville, N.C., Butterfly and Pollinators Native Plant Garden in Atlanta, Ga., and Wheeler School Community Garden in Providence, R.I.
“Project Orange Thumb® is a grant program that provides community garden groups with the tools and materials they need to reach their goals for neighborhood beautification and horticulture education,” as explained on the Project Orange Thumb® web site. “During our inaugural year, we partnered with the Chicago Park District and the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance to provide tools, materials and support to three community gardens in Chicago.”
Fiskars has provided more than $300,000 for 100-plus groups for their community garden projects, Mayasich said. Schools, community centers, youth groups, camps community garden groups, treatment facilities and many others interested in creating a community garden are some of applicants who have applied for grants over the past seven years.
“We’re looking for which 20 groups really have the best overall plan for care, community involvement and use of the resources we would be giving them,” Mayasich said. “It’s definitely not a contest, but these are all the criteria that we evaluate the application on in the review process.”
Projects that plan to demonstrate sustainable agriculture and/or provide horticulture education, too, are favored in the review process, Mayasich said.
The application process involves two parts – first, applicants complete an online application, providing details about their projects. Once submitted, applicants will complete a second portion in which they submit a “creative assignment based on” a concept that Fiskars provides on its web site.
The only associated expenses to applicants interested in the grant program is the cost of mailing or shipping the creative piece of the application, Mayasich said.
For more information about Project Orange Thumb®, visit http://www.projectorangethumb.com.
Fiskars Brand® Inc., the world’s number one scissors brand and a leader in the garden tool industry, is a manufacturing company with North American offices in Madison, Wisconsin.
Last year, some of the Project Orange Thumb® grant recipients included TRUNA Community Garden/Greenville City Harvest in Greenville, N.C., Butterfly and Pollinators Native Plant Garden in Atlanta, Ga., and Wheeler School Community Garden in Providence, R.I.
“Project Orange Thumb® is a grant program that provides community garden groups with the tools and materials they need to reach their goals for neighborhood beautification and horticulture education,” as explained on the Project Orange Thumb® web site. “During our inaugural year, we partnered with the Chicago Park District and the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance to provide tools, materials and support to three community gardens in Chicago.”
Fiskars has provided more than $300,000 for 100-plus groups for their community garden projects, Mayasich said. Schools, community centers, youth groups, camps community garden groups, treatment facilities and many others interested in creating a community garden are some of applicants who have applied for grants over the past seven years.
“We’re looking for which 20 groups really have the best overall plan for care, community involvement and use of the resources we would be giving them,” Mayasich said. “It’s definitely not a contest, but these are all the criteria that we evaluate the application on in the review process.”
Projects that plan to demonstrate sustainable agriculture and/or provide horticulture education, too, are favored in the review process, Mayasich said.
The application process involves two parts – first, applicants complete an online application, providing details about their projects. Once submitted, applicants will complete a second portion in which they submit a “creative assignment based on” a concept that Fiskars provides on its web site.
The only associated expenses to applicants interested in the grant program is the cost of mailing or shipping the creative piece of the application, Mayasich said.
For more information about Project Orange Thumb®, visit http://www.projectorangethumb.com.
Fiskars Brand® Inc., the world’s number one scissors brand and a leader in the garden tool industry, is a manufacturing company with North American offices in Madison, Wisconsin.
Garden grants open to U.S. and Canadian communities
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