Garden receives award from Whole Foods

The  Great Green Growing Garden has been awarded a $100 gift card from the Whole Kids Foundation, a project of Whole Foods Market. Three thousand applications were submitted nationwide for the grants.

Thanks to parents Jim Porter for spearheading the the grant-writing project last fall and Wendy Gasch for her assistance.

Jim Porter, president of the Lake View PTA, was one of the original parents to get the garden project started. In 2009, he and his two sons broke the first ground at the site of what would become the 4G garden.

Wendy Gasch is new to Lake View, as her child started kindergarten this academic year. She is a horticulturalist who worked for several years at Olbrich Gardens and now runs an independent business with her husband.

In the award notification reproduced below, local Whole Foods staff shared some extremely complimentary words about our garden!

Date: May 3, 2012
From: Amanda Jahnke Sauer
RE: Whole Foods Market Madison School Garden Project

Hello Jim and the Great Green Growing Garden team

Thank you so much for applying for the Whole Foods Market School Garden Project.

Although we were not able to grant your school with the full $500 donation this year, we would be delighted to offer a $100 gift card to go towards seedlings, fruit bushes, supplies or anything else we might be able to offer at our store. 

Our Floral Specialist, Jessie, is cc’d. Please feel free to reach out to her directly with any questions on what we carry that might be of interest for your project. The gift card is ready and waiting up at our Customer Service Desk whenever you’re ready.

Let me just say that our review committee was incredibly impressed by your garden and all you’re doing to bring healthy snacks and eating education to your school!

Thanks so much for all that you do.

All our best for another great season,

Amanda