A Planning Workshop for Grant Development

“Community Gardens Like Community Parks”

April 28, 2015

Facilitated by Judi Adams, MSEd, MFT

Adams & Adams Consulting and Training, Inc.
2928 Lakeview Drive ~ Bullhead City, AZ 86429
619-540-4190 ~ jadams@adams2.org and Judiha@aol.com

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Brief Overview:

On April 28, 2015, members of the Kingman Community Garden Steering Committee met to
discuss the feasibility of pursuing start up funding from community foundations. They were
joined by Judi Adams, a grant writer who had volunteered to research funding opportunities to
find a match for this project.

Under immediate consideration was a Request for Proposals from the Aetna Foundation which
is due on May 6th. The group reviewed and discussed the requirements. A local church, Praise
Chapel, is serving as the 501(c)3 and questions were raised that will need further research
about the Aetna RFP’s requirements for information regarding personnel, financial records, and
tax status pertaining to the non-profit that will host or be the pass through for the community
garden project.

The group decided to move ahead with gathering background information and developing the
project description; benefits, strategies, outcomes, etc. in order to be able to complete requests
for proposals, and agreed to provide demographics needed for the proposal.

Judi took the group through a planning process that identified all that had been accomplished
thus far (page 4), created a shared vision of what the garden would look like when it was fully
operational in one year (page5), conducted a current reality check which looks at strengths,
weaknesses, benefits and threats/challenges of this project (Page 5). Next the group was asked
what they actually intended to accomplish over the next 12 months to bring this community
garden to fruition (Page 6). Finally, they developed an action plan, completed with assignments
and actions for the next 90 days (page 7).

Next steps will include following up with the church to see if they are able/willing to provide the
documentation needed in time to apply for the Aetna grant. In the mean time, the group has
requested that Judi help complete an application for funding from the Kingman Regional
Medical Center’s community benefits fund.
The next page contains a summary of the findings from this meeting, formatted to answer RFP
questions. This is followed by documentation of the planning process.

At the end of the meeting, the group expressed satisfaction with the outcomes of the meeting:
“We are all on the same page”, “This helped us get organized”, “Got a lot done very quickly”,
Now we’re organized!”

Steering committee members are:

Tom Carter, Retired, Community Garden Steering Committee
Jen Miles, Businesswoman and City Council Member, CGSC
Jim Winso, Petro Stations Manager, CGSC
Travin Pennington, _______________, CGSC
Ron Tanner, Master Gardener Coordinator for Kingman, CGSC
Denise Neath, Master Gardener, CGSC
Sue West, Master Gardener, CGSC

Prepared by Judi Adams

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 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS IN PREPARATION FOR WRITING GRANT
PROPOSALS

Mission:

Goal: To improve the Health and Wellbeing of children, families, and individuals living in
Kingman AZ

Need: “There are children in our community that don’t know what vegetables taste like; there
are people in our community that are hungry, don’t get decent meals; we have a large senior
citizen population that are on fixed incomes, living alone, isolated; there are a bunch of
homeless kids living out in the desert without any adults; there are pockets and silos of isolation
in our neighborhoods. People have lost touch with the connection between eating and food
production. Large areas of land lie fallow – unused. We have lots of talent and resources in our
community that would blossom if they had the right community project.”

Solution: Create the Kingman Community Garden – to educate about/and provide citizens with
their own gardening plots in which to grow fruits and vegetables to feed themselves, their
families as well as those who are homeless and hungry in the community.

Outcomes: As a result of the Kingman Community Garden:

 Increased availability of healthy fruits and vegetables to all citizens
 Increased opportunities for socialization and physical exercise
 Reduced waste of water through education and training on smart water conservation
 Consumption of healthier food as a result of reduced chemicals in soil preparation and
growth
 Community collaboration and cooperation as agencies and organizations come together to
support the development of the garden
 Reduction in generational gaps through increased opportunities to work and learn side by
side in garden
 Other?

Strategies: (Judi will write narrative)

 Provide 80 plots to grow healthy nourishing fruits and vegetables
 Engage and educate the community about planting, growing and harvesting healthy crops
 Increase community collaboration and cooperation through opportunities at and around the
garden
 Partner to reduce hunger and reduce mal-nourishment by providing schools, hospitals and
assisted living programs with surplus food for children, the sick and shut ins
 Celebrate the Harvest

Key Actions/time line: (use RFP Template)

Partners: Get names and MOUS (check with Aetna and see what their MOU requirements
consist of – then send template to Denise)
Project Staffing Pattern: to be developed
Project Budget: Expenses (Mike is providing to Judi)
Amount Requested, details, and Rational: (Judi will write after she gets info from Mike)

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WHAT’S BEEN ACCOMPLISHED THUS FAR –WHAT DO WE HAVE IN PLACE?

Project Management:
 We have a 501(C)3 – Praise Chapel has agreed to let the Community Garden
operate under its non-profit status
 We have an acre of land that has been cleared
 Finances: We have a checking account: DIG It Kingman Community Gardens
 We have $3000 cash on hand
 We’ve registered the Trade Mark with the State
 We have businesses that said they will donate
 A steering committee to nurture and guide the project

Project Support:
 A data base of 126 people who want to participate in this project
 We have community support: Kingman Regional Medical Center and the Food
Bank
 The City’s Clean City Commission supports us as does Parks and Recreation
 We have support from local churches
 Service clubs: Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions
 Board of realtors
 The Garden Club
 University of Arizona
 All the schools on are on board or will be in support of this project. Kingman
Academy is on board.
 We’ve surveyed the neighbors and they are supportive of the garden location

Project Strategies:
 We have a community engagement strategy
 We are committed to using conservation techniques

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 OUR VISION: THIS IS WHAT THE COMMUNITY GARDEN
COULD LOOK LIKE 12 MONTHS FROM NOW

Garden will be in full bloom:

 The property will be fenced with gates and irrigation
 There will be volunteer monitors that will take care of the day to day operations of the
garden
 There will be shovels and rakes for people to share, stored in sheds
 There will be mulch and compost
 We will be using water conservation techniques and practicing healthy soil maintenance
 Twenty to thirty plots will be producing – maybe more. We can hold up to 80 plots on
the single acre
Community will be excited and participating
 People will be excited about the garden and want to be involved:
 There will be a waiting list
 Youth will be volunteering - The high school will have a plot
 The garden club will have a plot
 Churches will want plots
 Seniors will have plots; some folks will come to volunteer and work in the garden even
though they don’t have their own plots.
 Some folks will share plots
We will be partnering to reduce hunger:
 “Plant a Row for the Hungry” – certain rows will be designated to grow food that will be
donated for distribution to the Kingman’s hungry through different organizations, i.e.
Food Bank, churches, etc.
 Surplus foods from individual plots will be donated as well
We will have education programs for all levels and all ages:
 How, when and where to plant different plants and vegetables - We will be connecting
people back to the soil by teaching where food comes from
 How to amend the soil – healthy growing techniques
 How to save water through proper irrigation techniques
 Teaching sustainability by growing your own fruits and vegetables
 And more!
The Garden will be a place of enjoyment:
 There will be seats, benches and tables
 There will be a water feature
 People will come and sit and enjoy the garden, socialize, and volunteer even if they
don’t have a plot of their own
There will be opportunities for people to donate to the support of the garden:
 Stepping stones with names engraved
 Wish lists
 Sponsorships
Celebrate the Harvest
 Celebrate the first harvest from the Garden
 The community comes together for the first annual Harvest event

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 CURRENT REALITY CHECK

These are the strengths we have as a group that
will help us achieve our vision
 We have a shared vision
 Deep roots in the community
 We are a diverse well-round group
 We know a lot
 Strong leadership
 We have a bevy of workers that want to help
 We can tap into resources in the community
Like every group we have some weaknesses
that could get in the way our success
 Communication – keeping everyone informed and
up to speed so we are all on the same page and
know what’s going on
 We haven’t worked together like this before
 Can be strong willed, emotional, even bossy,

These are the benefits of achieving our vision These are some of the concerns and challenges that
we need to keep in mind once the garden is up and
running
 We will be serving our community – loving our  Liabilities and exposures
community  Weather conditions
 Kids will get vegetables - there are kids in our  We could have vandals, thefts – there will be
community who never eat vegetables security costs
 The community will be united, coming together  The community could lose interest
for a common cause  Gardeners could disagree with rules about what
 Educating people how to garden in Kingman can and can’t be planted, following irrigation and
 Promoting healthy life styles through nutrition, soil abatement expectations
exercise, socializing
 Teaching people how to be more self sustaining
 People will be able to save money
 All ages will be working together
 This first garden will expand to others until we
have community gardens all over Kingman
 People will use the park more that is next door
to the garden

PLANNED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Given our accomplishments to date, our vision for the future of our garden, and our
current reality, this is what we intend to accomplish over the next 12 months:
 Prepare the land and open the plots to the community
 Determine operational costs and prepare a budget
 Acquire financing and resources
 Engage the community
 Develop the education plan
 Develop a volunteer staffing plan
 Have a Harvest!

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 ACTION PLAN: Planned Accomplishes, Leadership, Key Actions

Planned Lead -makes May – July August – November - February –

Accomplishments sure gets Key steps over the next 90 days (May – July) October January April
done 2016
Prepare the land Mike and Ron 1. Till, irrigate, fence the land Open more
Open plots 2. Open 20-30 plots in May plots
Determine Mike 1. Determine costs for water meter, irrigation, mulch and Review costs
operational costs supplies Adjust budget
and prepare a 2. Create itemized list for one year
budget 3. (estimated $10,000 for startup)
Acquire financing Tom 1. Develop needs supply list Align funding
and resources 2. Go to supply stores and get in kind donations, equipment, plan with
etc. budget
3. Develop and implement donation plan (stepping stones realities
etc)
4. Develop grant proposals
Engage the Denise 1. Approach community for donations - compost and mulch Launch
community 2. Make presentations to different community groups “Friends of
3. Keep folks in data base informed and up to date the Garden”

Develop the Ron 1. Determine courses Courses are

education plan 2. recruit educators up and
3. prepare training materials (booklets and materials) running
4. Locate sites for courses (library, etc.)
Develop a Sue 1. Develop Monitoring Plan: duties, hours, requirements
volunteer staffing 2. Create master calendar/monitoring schedule for garden
plan 3. Work with Denise to get the word out the community to
recruit volunteers
4. Have monitors ready to work when garden opens in May
Have a Harvest! All