The mission of the Duluth Community Garden Program is to cultivate healthy neighborhoods by providing access to land, resources, and community.
The Garden Program needs a helping hand!
August, 9th, 2024
The Duluth Community Garden Program has been going through tough times over the past year. The Board has made the difficult decision to furlough employees and move out of the office.
How did this happen? Plot fees usually generate around $15,000 a year. Without getting bogged down with specifics, the stacked costs of: office rental, garden infrastructure maintenance, staff wages, insurance, water bills, taxes, and all the other things that make DCGP function cost an anticipated $97,000 for 2024. For the past few years, DCGP has been losing past reliable funders, private donations, and spent time scouring for sponsorships that simply didn’t come through.
Like many other small nonprofits, DCGP is suffering from a funding gap. For immediate security, we need to raise $4,100 to preserve our 501C3 status and cover debts.
The Duluth Community Garden Program was created forty five years ago to provide low-income and/or food insecure gardeners with a space to grow their own food in historically underserved neighborhoods. The payment model was set up so that gardeners with more financial resources would pay a higher price for their plot, so that lower income gardeners could pay-what-they-can, and still access plots.
We have 22 garden sites across the city with approximately 250 garden plots, some of which have been in use for many years (the oldest is a Victory garden from WWII). We have fencing, water collection, signage, tool sheds at every site.
These gardens are valuable assets to the citizens of Duluth. They must be saved!
How to Help:
Come to our free event on September 17th!
Come to the Peach Church (Fellowship Hall) on Tuesday, September 17th from 5:30pm-7:30pm to share a community meal together celebrating the 2024 Vegetable of the Year: CORN!
We will not have use of the kitchen, so please bring your own utensils (or clear out our plastic take-out silverware drawer!) and a ready-to-eat dish to share. We will provide paper plates, napkins, and bubble water.
We are selling t-shirts as a fundraiser. There is an option to donate at checkout!
Donate directly to the organization using the PayPal button below.
All proceeds go to preserving community gardens in Duluth.
Garden plot registration is closed for the 2024 season.
Not gardening with us this season, but interested in supporting Duluth Community Garden Program? Donate, sign up to volunteer, become a member, join a committee, or become a business sponsor!
https://www.duluthcommunitygarden.org/get-involved/donate
Contact Us
DCGP Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 3158
Duluth, MN 55803
garden@duluthcommunitygarden.org
Open by appointment, send us an email to set up a time to come in.
For a more in depth map of each of our gardens click here.
OUR BUSINESS SPONSORS:
Testimonial
"The Duluth Community Garden Program is an amazing and wonderful program to be a part of. Since joining, my family has found something that we can all enjoy together. Throughout our journey of participating in the program, we have had multiple opportunities to volunteer in the community, learn more about gardening, and even met some cool folks who live in our neighborhood. There is just something magical about being able to grow your own food, and provide it to your family."