I have been a part of this young organization since it was founded in March of 2012. That summer we raised 4,000# of vegetables which were shared with hungry children and adults through the local schools, community organizations and food pantries. During the summer of 2013 we raised at least 14,000# (not all the harvests were weighed) and touched the lives of even more of our neighbors. We have added cooking demonstrations, hands-on gardening lessons for all ages, and are encouraging the hungry families to grow their own vegetables themselves. Now we are growing even more (from 40 gardens in 2013) with more raised beds in other locations in the county, more open acre farm gardens and a food forest and orchard with fruit and nut trees and berry bushes. We are attracting people of all economic levels and all ages to our events and our gardens and have even made plans to grow specific local veggies for some family-owned restaurants in town.
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- EIN 46-3681206
- (815) 756-6328
- 2280 Bethany Road Dekalb IL 60115-5302 USA
- http://dekalbgardens.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Community & Neighborhood Development, Economic Development, Human Service Organizations, Human Services
Mission: Building community while increasing food security through growing and providing ready access to fresh nutritious local produce for dekalb county residents.
Programs: Dekalb county community gardens (dccg) strengthened the community by installing garden beds and growing over 16,000 pounds of food at 40 garden locations. The garden locations included schools, community centers, city owned vacant lots, medical centers, businesses, churches, and the local ymca. Over 300 volunteers worked in the gardens. The food grown was donated to local food pantries, community meal centers, senior citizen low income housing locations and children's learning centers. The volunteers included at-risk youth who volunteered through a partnership between dccg and the local youth service bureau.