GARDEN RAISED BOUNTY

GRuB in the Schools:
1. Increase teacher efficacy through youth development & multicultural literacy trainings & technical assistance
2. Increase depth of youth engagement in GRuB School & document theory of effective education
3. Increase impact on children through Seed to Table camps & integrate opportunities for teen and alumni leadership
4. Diversify youth engagement opportunities through the development of wild food & medicine curriculum

GRuB in the Good Food Movement:
1. Align farm operations to more closely with GRuB's mission – the people engaged in growing the food are prioritized as consumers of the good food that they grow.
2. Continue to take a leadership role in mission-related local, regional, and national food movement networks and pioneering projects; ensure that GRuB's stakeholders, values, and program models inform and help shape the transformation of food systems.
3. Innovate partnerships with the healthcare community through Rx gardens.

Victory Garden Project and Victory Farmers:
1.Integrate community food solutions' programming under the new name Victory Garden Project to better exemplify the value of meaningful relationships as a key strategy for social change.
2. Implement the VGP leadership circle, comprised of alumni gardeners & veterans, and empower them to shape and guide the vision of the program into the future
3. Enhance gardener and veteran engagement via more personal connection and community development opportunities
4. Cultivate partners in anticipation of launching a sustainable, community-based Victory Farm 2.0

Cultivating Community and Leaders:
1. Establish defined pathways for volunteerism, training, leadership and philanthropy throughout the organization, including between programs, with a special emphasis on alumni engagement.
2. Integrate consistent community and leadership development practices into and for the benefit of all programs and the broader community.
3. Leverage GRuB's theory of effective education and engagement to grow overall community support for our work and to ultimately transform the role of stakeholders at GRuB; recognize the value of financial gifts of all sizes, in-kind gifts, and various forms of volunteer service.

Our assets include a team of 15 staff, 1/3 of whom are program alumni and who bring a wealth of experience in youth development, education, trauma-informed services, agriculture, food justice, case management, facilitation, curriculum & organizational development, and nonprofit management. We have a 3,000-square-foot farmhouse and 2.94-acre site including an active one-acre farm, orchard, and native plant trail. We have two vehicles, including one purchased in 2013 which is fully outfitted for landscaping. We have a dedicated community of supporters who infuse their talents into GRuB's mission; each year at least 250 volunteers give thousands of hours of their time to us. We have established partnerships with a wide variety of local organizations and institutions, and rely upon strong relationship networks to accomplish our goals.

Since 1993, we have built dozens of community and school gardens, as well as nearly 2,900 free backyard gardens for low-income families. Since 1999, more than 325 low-income and/or disengaged high schoolers have participated in our on-site summer and school year programming. In 2007, we purchased 2 acres of urban farmland and built a 3,000 sq. ft. farmhouse, and in 2015, we secured an additional 1.18 acres of adjacent farmland in partnership with South of the Sound Community Farm Land Trust. In 2016 we designed four new Career Technical Education (CTE) frameworks approved by OSPI, inspiring a new Career Pathway for the State of Washington called “Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture." The same year, we successfully piloted a second urban farm, run by volunteer veterans, active duty military members, and their families. To date we've developed five GRuB-like farm-and-garden-based youth education and employment programs in Thurston, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Mason, and Pacific Counties and twice hosted Rooted in Community, a national youth leadership summit. In 2009, we were honored with a Washington State Senate Resolution.

Our organization and staff have been recognized with numerous awards; highlights include a 2005 Human Rights Award from the Thurston Council on Cultural Diversity and Human Rights; being voted “Best Local Nonprofit" of 2017 by readers of regional newspaper the Weekly Volcano; and recognition as a 2017 Thurston Green Business. Co-founder Blue Peetz received a 2011 ING Unsung Hero Award; co-founder Kim Gaffi received the 2013 YWCA Woman of Achievement Award; Lead Victory Farmer Mark Oravsky received a 2015 WA State Department of Veterans Affairs' Outstanding Service to Veterans Award; and Cultivating Community & Leaders Manager Kerensa Mabwa received a 2016 Peacemaker Award from the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center.