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The corporation opened the application process in late September and set Dec. 5 as the deadline for submitting applications. Fiskars® will select the garden makeover recipient from the grant applications, so those interested in being considered for the makeover must specify this on the application.

“Each year we have more and more organizations who reach out to us proactively,” said Julia Prohaska, Fiskars® director of marketing communications in Madison, Wis. “We credit it to the growth and interest in community gardening in general.”

In 2010, Fiskars® received more than 700 applications, an outstanding number considering the corporation doesn’t promote the program heavily, she said. Since 2002, Fiskars® reports it has supplied more than 125 communities with over $1 million in supplies and tools through Project Orange Thumb®.

“Naturally, it’s something we’re very proud of. We like to say we’ve left our thumbprint on 125 communities,” Prohaska said.

While aiding communities’ individual projects, the grants and makeovers also enable the support of families and food pantries, assisting more people than the project numbers indicate.

“We wish we could put a number on the total effect, but obviously that’s hard to do,” Prohaska said. “As leaders in this industry, when you have that position, it’s an obligation and a privilege how our tools are used for a greater good. We’re also happy to admit that when we go out and install gardens, we have fun; it feels good to be able to go out and connect with people in that way.”

Recipients of the garden grants as well as the recipient of the garden makeover will be announced in January. For more information about Project Orange Thumb® and the application criteria, visit http://www.projectorangethumb.com.

By Bobbie Whitehead

Community garden enthusiasts in the United States and Canada can apply for grants through the 2012 Project Orange Thumb® Garden Grants and Makeovers program of Fiskars® Brands Inc.

A leading outdoors, garden and home- products supplier based in Finland, Fiskars® begins its ninth year of Project Orange Thumb® and will choose 10 garden grant recipients, each receiving $5,000 worth of tools and garden supplies, and one garden makeover recipient.

Communities can apply for $5,000 garden grants through Project Orange Thumb® 2012 (Photo courtesy of Fiskars® Brands Inc.).