EUSTIS – The Stratton School Garden Program is participating in SeedMoney’s annual fundraising challenge with a goal towards establishing an orchard at the school. The month-long challenge kicks off Wednesday, November 15, at 12 p.m. with a 24-hour push to raise funds towards an additional grant.
The Stratton School’s garden program began about nine years ago with a grant written by Dave Richards, a school board member. The program began with six raised beds, with children across the grade levels helping to dig, fertilize with manure, and plant the gardens. Five years ago, Stratton School implemented seed planting day into the curriculum for all students from PreK through eighth grade. Students learn the history of plants, the plant life cycle, botany and the science behind plants and gardening, along with what plants grow in Maine and why. Every child at the Stratton School has the opportunity to dig in the dirt and participate in the program.
Each year, seeds are started in every classroom so students can watch them grow. The seedlings are then planted in the outdoor garden which has expanded to include 19 raised beds and the 30-foot Grow Dome, which was a project started by parents during COVID. This week Stratton School added trout to the pond in the Grow Dome for the first time. The garden program continues to grow with the addition of a full-time school garden coordinator position in June 2023 and continued collaboration with local and state partners, including the Greater Franklin Food Council and the Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute.
With this fundraising challenge, the Stratton School hopes to raise $10,000 to fully fund the development of a school orchard. This would add more permaculture to the school and create another outdoor classroom space, in addition to supporting the school garden and nutrition program. This is part of the Stratton School’s goal to “create a sustainable garden and nutrition program to develop lifelong habits that nourish ourselves, our community, and our environment.”
SeedMoney is a non profit organization that runs an annual 30 day crowdfunding challenge for school and community gardens all around the world. Each project can compete for challenge grants ranging from $100 to $1,000, and they keep all of the funds they raise through individual donations.
The fundraising campaign runs through November 15 to December 15, although there is an opportunity to add matching funds to the local donations if those donations are received in the first 24 hours and the first week of the fundraising challenge.
There is a match grant offered to the project that receives the most individual donations in the first week of the campaign. As extra incentives, SeedMoney is offering a $400 bonus grant to the campaign that raises the money funds in the first 24 hours, starting at noon on November 15. An additional 50 bonus grants of $100 will be offered to the 50 campaigns that raise the money during the first week.
Donations can be made here: donate.seedmoney.org/9118/stratton-school-garden
For more information on the Stratton School and the Eustis School Department, visit www.strattonschool.org
