2025 CookFresh® Community Urban Garden Grant Recipients
2025 CookFresh® Community Urban Garden Grant Recipients
• Green Thumb In A Box, Michigan Terrace Garden, located in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood is a living demonstration garden designed to inspire and educate residents on how to grow food in small spaces in unique ways. The garden’s initiative serves to empower the community with hands-on learning with sustainable growing practices with residents receiving the harvest yields. Grant funds will be used for plantings, seed, soil, and supplies for the garden.
• Riverside Community Garden, located in Riverside is an Illinois notfor-profit community donation garden and its mission is to provide fresh produce to food insecure individuals and families, while promoting food growing and composting thereby building community through partnerships and local groups. Grant funds will be used for plants, compost, and soil.
• Berwyn Roots: Serenity Park Comm Garden/Proska Park Children’s Gaarden/Ebenezer Neighborhood Garden: these three gardens all reside in the town of Berwyn serving every age of resident. They are home to free and low-cost events that encourage growing food, fruit, and pollinators. The garden’s yield of produce, fruits, herbs, and seeds are used to support community fridges, free plant distribution, seed swaps, and more. Grant funds will be used for vegetable and herb plants, perennials, compost, and supplies for the garden.
• Community Roots Garden NFP, located in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood is a not-for-profit garden started in 2024 serving the south side to produce organic produce and herbs in raised garden beds. A pollinator garden featuring native plants was also created to attract bees and butterflies to benefit their crops and eco-system. The garden hopes to increase the residents access to fresh organic produce/ herbs and cultivate a community, offering growing classes, education, and access. Grant funds will be used for herb plantings, fruit bushes, and strawberry plants.
• ATTCOM”s Garden of Hope, located in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, is stewarded by an outreach organization to provide the community with access to fresh vegetables, herbs, and berries, via ATTCOM’s food pantry. The garden also supports pollinators with their pollinating flowers and trees. Grant funds will be used for vegetable and tomato plants, compost, soil, pollinator seeds, and supplies for the garden.
• South Holland Kids Community Garden is a new, first-time community garden is located in South Holland, serving several school districts within the Village. The garden will allow kids a place to plant, grow, learn, and play, to improve social, emotional, and confidence skills while consuming fresh local grown produce and fruit. A Kids Farmers Market will also allow opportunities to increase skills and learning. Grant funds will be used for vegetable plantings, seeds, compost, soil, and lumber.
• Respond Now Community Garden, located in Chicago Heights, looks to revitalize the garden that was relaunched in 2024. The garden provides community members in need with fresh and nutritious produce for the local food pantry, and a place to gather to learn how to grow their own food. Grant funds will be used for vegetable plantings and starts, compost, fertilizer, and supplies.