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Firefly Awarded $5000 GroMore Grant for Rooftop Garden Project
Firefly to Grow Community Garden with Support from National Head Start Association and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation ,
Council Bluffs, IA- Firefly today announced the creation of its community garden, “Spark and Bloom” at the Charles E. Lakin Collaboration Center. The $5000 grant is part of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and the National Head Start Association’s GroMoreGood Garden Grants initiative, which seeks to connect one million Head Start children across the country to garden education and fresh food. Firefly received a GroMoreGood garden grant to build, plant, and grow fresh vegetables and flowers with the assistance of the children enrolled in their Early Head Start Program and participants in their Maternal Health Support Group.
Once the project is complete, the garden will be used for continued education, as a source of fresh vegetables for Firefly’s families, and a way to encourage working together to GroMore good across the community! “We are so excited to start this project with some of our partners in our new space”, said Christine Gochenour, Director of Development for Firefly. “The excess from the garden will be donated to Together for their food pantry and will be given out to families that need it.”
According to Kimberly Kolakowski , Executive Director of Firefly “Our Spark & Bloom garden is a shining example of the good that grows when the community comes together to lift up those in need! Firefly will be partnering with other nonprofits, as well as private businesses to bring this from a concept on paper to actual food growing in our garden!” “The research is clear: garden-based learning improves educational outcomes, enhances social and emotional learning, and—perhaps most importantly—engages every child’s innate wonder and care for the natural world,” said NHSA Executive Director Yasmina Vinci. “NHSA is proud of our continuing partnership with to support experiential learning, foster curiosity, and encourage even more Head Start children and their families to learn and play outside!”