Tag Archives: CoMoGives

Off to a Great Start for Our 40th Year

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This year is the 40th anniversary of the Community Garden Coalition, and we are off to a great start due to some very successful year-end fundraising!

We exceeded our goal of $6,000 through CoMoGives and received corporate gifts from two local Walmarts totalling $2,750 along with a $500 gift from UScellular. But the most surprising donation happened in early December when we were contacted by Jim Robertson, the chair of the Reality House Programs board of directors. 

Reality House operated as a local, non-profit for 50 years offering a community-based alternative to incarceration. Unfortunately it lost the state funding it relied on two years ago and had to shut down. As a last gift to the Columbia community the board of directors decided the best way to disburse their remaining funds was to donate to three local, non-profits that they felt had supported their clientele over the years. The Community Garden Coalition was one of the lucky recipients, and we were given a $10,000 donation!!

Needless to say, we can help a lot of people with such a generous gift! While we are grateful for everyone’s support, we want to especially thank the Reality House Programs board of directors:

  • Jim Robertson
  • Rusty Antell
  • Frank Aten
  • Carroll Highbarger
  • Bob Perry
  • Jim Ritter
  • Matt Woods

THANK YOU for Showing Your Support!

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Graphic saying "Thank You!!!! December Donors Your support will help us in our 40th year of community gardening!" and featuring a photo of several volunteers posed at a garden and smiling for the camera

We are thrilled to report that the Coalition has received over $6,000 in donations this year through our CoMoGives campaign!!! We also received some other donations in December, and we’re so grateful to all our donors!

These gifts mean A LOT to our small, all-volunteer organization! We are so happy to have community support and enthusiasm for our mission as we move into our 40th year as an organization! (That’s right, the CGC got its start in 1983!)

Of course, if you meant to donate and missed the CoMoGives deadline, please know that you can donate anytime via our PayPal donations portal.

We wish all of our gardeners, volunteers and supporters a Happy New Year. We hope you can spend this winter planning your best garden ever!

Last Chance to Give Through CoMoGives

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We have reached the final few days of the CoMoGives local giving campaign, a truly inspired homegrown effort to support all kinds of nonprofit groups in Mid-Missouri. If you have the means to donate this year, we hope you’ll hop over to the CoMoGives site and give a gift to the Community Garden Coalition or another charity that’s close to your heart.

We’re thrilled with the support we’ve seen so far for community gardening as we get ready for our fortieth year! (That’s right, the CGC has been around since 1983!) We’re 2/3 of the way to our goal of raising $6,000 through CoMoGives this year.

As a supporter, you know we’re an all-volunteer group, run by a very small board and a hard-working set of garden leaders. In 2022, we supported over a dozen gardens used by hundreds of gardeners. When we asked our gardeners to tell us what community gardening means to them this year, we heard some inspiring words indeed!

graphic tile with botanical ornaments, the CGC logo and "What Does Your Community Garden Mean to You? It means a lot because I can grow my own food. I saved a lot on vegetables growing my own."
graphic tile with botanical ornaments, the CGC logo and "What Does Your Community Garden Mean to You? Time in the sun and hands in the dirt keep me grounded and sane during the summer."
graphic tile with botanical ornaments, the CGC logo and "What Does Your Community Garden Mean to You? A space to dream and go be outdoors for a bit."
graphic tile with botanical ornaments, the CGC logo and "What Does Your Community Garden Mean to You? I am really thankful for it, and it got me to garden for the first time. I learned a lot, and want to continue doing it. It is great."
graphic tile with botanical ornaments, the CGC logo and "What Does Your Community Garden Mean to You? I feel part of a great community of gardeners. I learn from them, share with them, enjoy their company."
graphic tile with botanical ornaments, the CGC logo and "What Does Your Community Garden Mean to You? We stock our pantry with the bounty of the garden."

The Garden Coalition depends on the continued generosity of supporters like you to continue serving these gardens. If you have already given, thank you! If you have not given and have the means, please consider a gift through CoMoGives by midnight this Saturday, December 31.

Donate to CoMoGives!

Thank you so much for your support and interest in our mission! Here’s to a happy New Year 2023 and more great gardens as the CGC turns 40!

More Garden Plots at Unite4Health

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Unite4Health garden bed rehabilitation makes room for more gardeners!

As we look forward and prepare for another season of community gardens, we’re looking back at what was accomplished this year. Thanks to the efforts of one of our garden leaders at Unite4Health garden, Cheryl Jensen, there will be additional garden spots available next spring!

Before and after bed rehabilitation at Unite4Health garden in November, 2022

Cheryl’s tireless efforts, along with the help of Anne Jacobson, have really turned that garden into a little paradise for their gardeners! Cheryl had help from our favorite CCUA employee (and our newest board member) Mallary Lieber, and yours truly’s husband, Matt Knowlton, who loaded and delivered some primo compost for these beds. Then, visiting volunteers from AmeriCorps met with Cheryl to do the rehab!

Cheryl with some of her fall crops
Left, Mallary loading compost stored for us by CCUA; right, Matt unloading compost at U4H
The AmeriCorps crew, consisting of young volunteers from all over the U.S.

Another example of the lovely synergy that exists within our community and beyond!

As we wrap up our 39th year, the Community Garden Coalition is participating in the CoMoGives local giving campaign! Please consider a making a donation to support next year’s gardens through CoMoGives! You can also give directly through PayPal or snail mail at P.O. Box 7051, Columbia, MO, 65205.

Donate via CoMoGives through December 31!

Meet Our Newest Garden Leader

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Recently, the city asked the Community Garden Coalition to take over and revamp a community garden site they had established next to Fire Station 8 at 2301 E. Nifong. Normally, the CGC doesn’t start gardens from scratch, but rather helps interested groups establish or run gardens. Community gardens need a person or people willing to be garden leaders who serve as liaisons with us. In this case, the Britt/Hall garden had no established group or leader. Still, we said we’d try to take on the project.

Board member Cheryl Jensen remembered that one of her past gardeners had moved to that area and has quickly found a willing garden leader by the name of Anh Thu Nguyen. We are so happy to have Thu on board and excited to see how this garden develops next year!

Thu and her husband Huy came to the U.S. from Vietnam in 2014 so that Huy could pursue his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at MU. Like many who come to school here, they found Columbia so wonderful that they decided to stay after he completed his degree. They have two children, a daughter, Bella, who likes reading and drawing, and a son, Leo, who plays piano and roller skates. Huy enjoys playing tennis and soccer while Thu likes to cook and craft. They all enjoy working in the garden growing vegetables and are looking forward to meeting the new people who join this garden.

P.S. Don’t forget that you can help us support the Britt/Hall Garden, and all the member community gardens through Dec. 31 when you donate to the Community Garden Coalition through CoMoGives. Your small donation means a lot to us!

A Great Start to CoMoGives! Thank You!

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Wow! We are so grateful for all the support received on Giving Tuesday through CoMoGives!!! With over $1,800 received in the first day of our campaign, we’re so happy to have the support of our community as we get ready to celebrate our 40th anniversary in 2023!

Thank you so much to those who’ve given! We will put your gifts to good use supporting Columbia’s community gardeners.

If you haven’t given, yet, don’t worry — CoMoGives continues through December 31! Just visit our page at CoMoGives.com.

Your Donations Help Community Gardens Thrive!

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It’s that time of year again when we ask you to consider making a donation to support the Community Garden Coalition via the CoMoGives local giving campaign.

This was a great year for our group. We’ve expanded our services with more raised beds and equipment for disabled and elderly gardeners, while increasing the number of neighborhood gardens (check out Britt/Hall at Fire Station #8). But here’s the really big news — we’ll be celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2023!

collage of photos showing a child watering a garden, a woman waving hello in a garden, a man standing in a garden with a shovel, a group of teens and a child digging in a garden and a pile of harvested collard greens. A message reads "Help our gardens grow with your donation! November 29-December 31 CoMoGives.com"

We may be one of the smallest all-volunteer, nonprofits in this area but we are mighty. What started in 1983 as a way to help some low-income residents produce their own healthy food has grown into a community-wide pursuit with hundreds of people from all walks of life participating. Obviously, we couldn’t have done this on our own — over the years we’ve had financial help from the City of Columbia, the United Way, the Community Foundation of Central Missouri, Walmart and Sam’s Club to name a few of the larger organizations. We’ve also relied on donations of land use, time, materials and money from thousands of generous individuals over the years.

Today, on Giving Tuesday, we’re counting on your support once again! It’s easy to give to CGC and all your favorite local nonprofits at www.comogives.com now through December 31.

Why should you donate?

  • Over half of local community gardeners are at or below the federal poverty level and the gardens are a significant source of healthy food for their families. 
  • Community gardens not only improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables but, increase physical activity and reduce stress.
  • Community gardens fill vacant lots with neighbors who work together, creating social ties that build a greater feeling of community and safety
  • Community gardens improve the air and soil, increase biodiversity and reduce stormwater runoff and the carbon footprint of our gardeners.    
  • All donations to the CGC go 100% to member gardens because we’re an all-volunteer nonprofit.
six older people stand in front of a table with their hands on a large watermelon
Cambridge Place gardeners with their first watermelon of the year
a group of gardeners poses for a late summer photo showing flat boxes full of peaches on the ground in front of them
Unite4Health gardeners with this year’s peach crop
three dark brown homemade sweet potato pies on a table
Sweet potato pies made from Friendship Garden produce

So please consider giving to our organization during CoMoGives. Any amount will help and small donations are our bread and butter!

Donate via CoMoGives through December 31!

Whether or not you’re able to give, thank you for a being a friend and supporter!

Kathy Doisy, President
Jenny McDonald, Vice-President
Bill McKelvey, Treasurer
Cheryl Jensen
Sarah Kendrick
Mallary Lieber
Lindsey Smith

 

A Bountiful Year of Community Gardening

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In 2022, the Community Garden Coalition was pleased to help gardens across the city with many improvements. We were able to build and fill raised beds for gardeners with disabilities, a picnic table and purchase top quality compost for various member gardens. We’ve also covered the cost of water during this year’s drought and helped gardens add native plants to their sites. As the year winds down, we are preparing to install a new, larger shed at our Claudell Garden property, and helping to get old garden beds rehabbed and renewed at the Unite4Health garden and at a new member garden at fire station no. 8 on Nifong Blvd.

We’re also just about to start participating in the annual CoMoGives local giving campaign. This month-long donation drive helps so many nonprofits like us and we’re excited to be participating again. You can show your support via CoMoGives starting November 29, Giving Tuesday!

Throughout the coming weeks, we’ll share photos from the gardens and some of what community gardeners say their garden means to them. It’s been a bountiful harvest!

Thank you for your interest and support of community gardening!

a gardener stands in front of her plot, waving at the camera
a gardener with a shovel in hand stands in the middle of his garden with green vegetables and straw mulch visible
Two volunteers in winter coats and holding garden rakes stand in front of some low raised beds and smile at the camera with an open shed visible in the backround
Two women stand in front of a hay storage structure, one holding a transplant in a plastic pot

Thank You, December Donors!

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We are so happy to report that the Coalition has received over $6,000 in donations this year from almost 80 donors through CoMoGives and beyond!!!

That means A LOT to our small, all-volunteer organization! We are so happy to have your support and to witness the enthusiasm for community gardening in our community!

Every penny of these donations will go straight to gardens via seeds, water, plants, tools, mulch, compost, lawn mowers, sheds, infrastructure and other gardening items to keep our gardeners growing. Stay tuned to see how the gardens of Columbia will flourish in 2022!

Of course, if you meant to donate and missed the CoMoGives deadline, please know that you can donate anytime via our PayPal donations portal.

We wish all of our gardeners, volunteers and supporters a Happy New Year. We hope you can spend this winter planning your best garden ever!

Final Days of CoMo Gives 2021

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So many friends of community gardening have stepped up to support our mission this month through CoMo Gives! We are so grateful for over $5,000 raised so far!!

If you’d like to help us build lasting gardens and serve our community, you still have two days! The CoMoGives campaign ends at midnight on Friday, December 31!

All the money we raise goes to supporting our member gardens with tools, water, infrastructure, supplies and more for the next growing season. As an all-volunteer group, we really value ALL donations, and we realize that even a small one can make a big difference!

Give Through December 31

Thanks for being a part of our gardening community and let’s look forward to a new growing season and a new year!

garden leader Don Day stands next to the Broadway Christian garden sign
gardeners at Unite4Health garden display their sweet potato harvest
Kurt Heine holds up the bag of seeds he's picking up from a front porch, with a later winter snow on the ground behind him.