Kansas City Community Gardens (KCCG), a local nonprofit, was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation to support the Community Partner Gardens and Self-help gardening programs. The Community Partner Gardens program supports community groups including neighborhood associations, nonprofits, congregations, youth groups, and hospitals to start and maintain productive community food garden projects, while the Self-Help Gardening program supports low-income families to successfully grow and prepare fresh vegetables, fruits, and culinary herbs.

The Sprouts Healthy Community Foundation supports organizations working to promote health and wellness within their communities. The foundation focuses on health education, food insecurity, and people with disabilities.

KCCG helps low-income households and community groups produce affordable, healthy food. This organization has almost 500 garden sites around the Kansas City area and serves more than 18,000 individuals each year. KCCG empowers people to grow produce in their backyards and at community partner sites by offering expert technical assistance, gardening and nutrition education, and affordable materials and tilling service; teaches children about growing and eating healthy food through their Beanstalk Children’s garden and Schoolyard Gardens; and plants orchards as part of their Giving Grove program.

KCCG helps people like Gloria, a mother of three. She wanted to build a garden in her backyard for her family. Gloria reached out to KCCG’s Bilingual Outreach Coordinator who helped her find the best location for a garden, find reclaimed wood for raised beds, and helped construct the garden. Now Gloria’s family has fresh produce and she is teaching her children about gardening and eating healthy.