GARDEN RAISED BOUNTY
Everyone at the table
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
GRuB in the Schools
GRuB’s school-based youth leadership & food justice programs use popular education strategies to engage young people in relevant relationships- and environment-based service learning. Our goal is to grow adults who understand connections between environmental sustainability and social justice, and are invested in changing their world for the better. With their hands in the soil, youth find greater self-esteem, self-care, academic confidence, and a profound sense of environmental and civic responsibility. They develop trust in themselves and others, and experience themselves as active participants in community change. Youth gain job skills, earn academic credit, and help grow our community's access to good food. There are currently three GRuBlike programs in Thurston County: Freedom Farmers at Muirhead Farm, serving Olympia High School; Tumwater F.R.E.S.H. serving Tumwater School District; and our on-site program offering academic year programming to Capitol High School students. We offer Institutes, technical assistance, and other resources for educators and school districts interested in implementing our model.
GRuB Garden Project
Since 1993, we have built dozens of community and school gardens, as well as nearly 2,900 free backyard gardens for low-income families through our oldest program, the GRuB Garden Project (formerly known as the Kitchen Garden Project). Each year, we build 50+ vegetable gardens for families living at or below 185% of the federal poverty level, engaging veterans and youth in GRuB School as garden builders.
We prioritize the program leadership of low-income women, people of color, veterans and/or members of the LGBTQ community via the "Victory Garden Project Leadership Circle," a program alumni advisory board made up of veterans and VGP gardeners. Core to this program is our belief and value that everyone is powerful, regardless of current life circumstances, and that our work and community thrives by including diverse experiences, cultures, opinions and beliefs.
Cultivating Community and Leaders
CCL translates the best of our youth program into cohort-based trainings and activities for adult stakeholders, using principles of popular education to nurture leadership and multicultural relationship skills. Its goal is to grow our community’s awareness, access to resources, and skills for personal and systems advocacy, while prioritizing leadership of low-income and otherwise marginalized community members in our programs. We reduce barriers to participation (e.g. by offering child care and transportation assistance) while establishing clear and accessible pathways to program and organizational leadership. Each year, we engage at least two cohorts in the aforementioned workshop series and 250+ volunteers across programs.
GRuB in the Good Food Movement
We sustainably grow more than 10,000 pounds of food and flowers each year for the Thurston County Food Bank, GRuB School youth, seniors, low-income families, veterans in transitional housing, and our broader community.
Two acres of urban farmland serve as a beautiful outdoor classroom for GRuB School, field trips, summer camps, and Families on the Farm programming.
The land is stewarded by GRuB School students, farm staff and interns, and community volunteers, and is preserved with support from the South of the Sound Community Farm Land Trust.
We offer vegetable and flower CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture- a weekly subscription) and operate a seasonal farmstand. We accept EBT payments for our CSAs, and a portion of the cost goes to subsidize the produce youth in GRuB School take home.
We also offer free "CSA" shares to low-income seniors, low-income families in Families on the Farm programming, and veterans in Catholic Community Services' transitional housing.
Victory Farmers
Our Victory Farmers program engages veterans and active-duty military service members in relationships- and garden-based programming. Victory Farmers are connected with regular peer support, program leadership opportunities, communication skills training, and the opportunity to transform their strong military service ethic into civilian life through community-based work to grow, share, and help others access good food. The goal of the Victory Farm is to create a safe, non-confrontational place where veterans, active duty service members and their families work shoulder to shoulder with community, immersed in the healing nature of the outdoors, agriculture and dirt work. Meanwhile, food bank clients will have increased access to fresh food and the means to grow it.
We prioritize the program leadership of low-income women, people of color, veterans and/or members of the LGBTQ community via the "Victory Garden Project Leadership Circle," a program alumni advisory board made up of veterans and VGP gardeners. Core to this program is our belief and value that everyone is powerful, regardless of current life circumstances, and that our work and community thrives by including diverse experiences, cultures, opinions and beliefs.
Wild Foods and Medicines
GRuB’s Wild Food and Medicine program offers educational resources, teacher trainings, and community classes to help people safely and sustainably harvest and prepare wild edible and medicinal plants.
We partner with Native educators, Elders, cultural experts, and plant specialists in developing educational tools that are place-based, promote respect for the land, and increase understanding of tribal history, traditions, and food sovereignty. Honoring cultural property rights and protected knowledge is an important part of this work. We respect and honor Native communities’ right to keep sacred knowledge within their communities, and strive to share knowledge that is appropriate for a broader audience.
Where we work
Awards
Unsung Heroes 2011
ING
Woman of Achievement 2013
YWCA
Human Rights Award 2005
United Way
3rd Healthiest Business in the State 2006
Washington State Governor
Senate Resolution 2009
Washington State Governor
External reviews

Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
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.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
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.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
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.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
GARDEN RAISED BOUNTY
Board of directorsas of 12/18/2022
Judy Witt
Higher Education Leadership & Adult Learning
Steven Byers
Helping Human Systems
Michelle Harvey
Association of Washington Cities
Gail Gosney-Wrede
Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's Office (retired)
Jessie Turner
Cascadia Law Group
Becca Kenna-Schenk
Western Washington University
Anne Hansen
WA Dept of Social & Health Services, Developmental Disabilities Administration
Nicole Boucher
Tumwater School District
Rick Bernsten
U.S. Army Veteran, Victory Farmer
Roxanne Lieb
Washington State Institute for Public Policy (retired)
Sonny Davis
Native Harvest
Sean Hawkins
GRuB Youth Program Alum
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes