Resiliency Gardens for Ukrainian Refugees and IDPs

Hello Team!

Time for another update about our work with organizations in Poland and Ukraine! We have some updates about our programs from over the summer and our continuing work into 2024. We thank you for supporting our work to create school, home, and community gardens for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people. Our work would not be possible without you!

Over the summer, we initiated a partnership with Charity Fund Modern Village in Ukraine to distribute vegetable seeds to migrant families and the elderly. In August, packets of cucumber, tomato, beet, carrot, and cabbage seed were distributed in the village of Lukashivka and in rural communities in the Cherkasy region of Ukraine. The war has caused the price of vegetables to increase significantly in Ukraine and the seed allows families to grow and harvest their own vegetables to supplement their nutrition and improve their sense of community. The seeds are being used to grow gardens at educational institutions, homes of the elderly, and boarding schools.

We are also currently gearing up for our school garden program in Poland with Resiliency Gardens for the current school year. This program was founded by SPI Board Member, June Lavelle. After a successful first year, we are funding an additional 10 school gardening programs for the 2023/2024 school year. The program aims to create or enhance educational gardens for schools that have been impacted by the war in Ukraine and have graciously welcomed Ukrainian students into their schools. School gardens provide hands-on learning opportunities for students and create community and camaraderie among classmates. This program will provide a grant to create their school garden and will include an educational support aid that will visit the schools and assist with teaching four gardening programs throughout the academic year. We have already received applications from several schools and hope to get these programs running in December!

If you are interested in supporting this program further, then please consider donating on Giving Tuesday, November 28. On this day, GlobalGiving is matching donations with $1,200.000 of available funds. This is a great day to donate and increase the impact of your donation dollars. 

If you have any questions about any of our programs, then please do not hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Holidays,

Robyn