Help Finding Tower Garden Grants
Tower Gardens are a great way to teach math, English, science, and even life skills in a classroom. But growing their own food right in their classroom will also teach kids healthy eating habits. Many funding organizations are interested in helping kids learn to eat better.
The first place to start to locate grants for a Tower Garden with your school administration. Let your principal know that you’d like to seek funding for a soil-less gardening system in your classroom. Your principal may know of other teachers in your school who could use one. He or she might also check with school system administration for help locating and writing a grant. Administration might know of other schools in your system that would benefit from having Tower Gardens in classrooms. It can be easier to receive funding if school administration is involved and more than just one system is requested.
Below is just a partial list of organizations by state along with national organizations where you can apply for a Tower Garden grant. But your best option might be to do a Google search using your county name and ”health foundation education grant”. You might find a local organization that would be excited to support a Tower Garden in your classroom.
Email me at steve@keepitwatered.com or call/text 574.366.0939 to open up a conversation that might lead to finding a grant for your project.
Colorado Foundations
The Colorado Health Foundation
www.coloradohealth.org
California Foundations
California Fertilizer Foundations
Georgia Funders
Community Impact Grants
Funding Carroll, Haralson, and Heard counties in Georgia
Bright Ideas
$1,000 grants from Carroll Electric Membership Cooperative
Indiana Foundations
Kosciusko County, Indiana
K21 Health Foundation
k21foundation.org
Application deadlines:
August 1, February 1, May 1
May support 1 Tower Garden, but likes ‘district-wide solve’. Work together with your school district. Will want school administration involved.
Lake County, Indiana
Crown Point Community Foundation
thecpcf.org/grants.html
Legacy Foundation
www.legacyfdn.org
Marshall County, Indiana
Marshall County Community Foundation
www.marshallcountycf.org
Elkhart County, Indiana
Community Foundation of Elkhart County
www.inspiringgood.org
Superintendent must approve application
Well-born Baptist Foundation
www.welbornfdn.org
Serving 14 counties in the southwest Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky area
Virginia Foundations
The Allegheny Foundation
Strengthening Quality of Life
Grants available to the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia
The Gheens Foundation
https://www.gheensfoundation.org
Awards grants up to $10,000 to metropolitan Louisville area and in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes in Louisiana.
Local organizations
Your School’s PTA
Kiwanis Club
Optimist Club
National Grants
USDA
Partnerships for Local Agriculture & Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS) – Applications are due January 22, 2024
USDA Farm to school grant – Closing date January 12, 2024
Sprouts Farmers Market
Neighborhood Grant
Emeril Lagasse Foundation
Teaching garden grants available to schools in Greater New Orleans, Austin, Greater Ft. Lauderdale, the Gulf South, Greater Houston, Southern California, Las Vegas, Napa / Sonoma, Orlando, and Washington D.C.
American Heart Association
Teaching Gardens Network Grant Program
Whole Kids Foundation
www.wholekidsfoundation.org
Kids Gardening
www.kidsgardening.org
Seed Your Future
A list of several funding options for K-12th grade gardens
National Head Start Association Members
Scott’s Miracle Grow and NHSA have partnered to teach communities how to grow their own produce.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
Find a grant tool. Click a state and see grant options for that state.
Keep It Watered has partnered with Weller Grant Services to help schools and other non-profits obtain grants for Tower Gardens.
Looking for Tower Garden curriculum for your classroom or Tower Garden training and support for your school?
A new book by Steve Koontz
Growing to Teach – Helping nervous teachers become successful indoor gardeners – Now available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback editions.
Gardening with soil-less technology can be an amazing addition to any classroom. Systems can easily fit in the corner of a room, with no weeding, few bugs, and no pesticides.
And there’s no pressure to grow perfect plants! The important part is that your students have fun learning and growing plants right in their classroom. Growing to Teach will give you the tools to help you enjoy the experience along with your students.