Annual Report

2013

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Green Thumbs Growing Kids (GTGK) Garden Educator Isaac Crosby grew up on a farm. A proud descendent of the Indigenous Black communities of Chatham-Kent, Isaac remembers rich soil built up by generations of his large family. There were worms in the soil, but if he thought of them at all, they were for fishing.

In Toronto, Isaac can’t get enough of worms and their place in garden ecosystems. He now understands–along with the children he teaches–how much soil needs worms to become fertile. That’s how it is in GTGK learning gardens: teachers learn with their students, and the land, its plants, and its creatures offer many lessons.

There were many important sites of learning for GTGK in 2013, including:

• a Kinder-GARDEN pilot program that introduced 3 new schools to GTGK and gave teachers opportunities to try out activities, then trouble-shoot together;

Ecological growers often say that their first order of business is growing soil, not food.

Healthy soil, air, and water make healthy food. These are the birthrights of all people, whether urban or rural, rich or poor.

• expanded youth programs and community and institutional partnerships; and

• surveys of stakeholders in GTGK programming in Toronto and Ontario.

Yet, while we saw how deeply children and youth, teachers, parents, and partners appreciate our organization, we also saw that the demand for our hands-on approach is great, and our resources too often limited.

The 2012-2013 Ontario EcoSchools Certification Guide asks: “How does your school actively engage students and staff in the care of the natural environment, encourage teaching and learning in the outdoors, and increase biodiversity on the school grounds?” Not only schools, but the communities around them, understand that GTGK has answers to such questions.

When you dream of learning gardens everywhere, there is so much more to do.

We welcome you to dream with us.

• 96% of parents surveyed would like to have their child participate in more GTGK activities

• 89% of teachers would be interested in programming on land-based traditions

• 71% of youth would like to know more about setting up and maintaining their own garden

Many seeds were planted in 2013, both real and metaphorical. We continue to grow our practice of land-based education, gardening and urban agriculture as social justice interventions. Thanks to amazing people throughout the organization, our programs reached more people than ever this year. Sunday Harrison,

Founder and Program Director

Finances

Kristin Schwartz, 2012 Board President

Board of DirectorsVirginia Kairys, PresidentRobert Spence, TreasurerTanya English, SecretaryRobin BuyersGiovanna CapuaniDavid Clandfield Joe DurandChristine JonesLynsey KissanePrateeksha SinghAnne SorrenttiKristina Vidug

2013 Revenues

StaffHosne AraAla AsadchayaIsaac CrosbySunday HarrisonTanbir HaqueBishara MohamedKryslyn MohanCassie ScottVeronica SummerhillLeslie Topness

Special ContractsChristine Hayhurst, RestructureAbbey HugganMiriam SnellClaire Trepanier Co-op & Practicum StudentsPantha AzmeeAngel de los Santos

Elissa HaraGrace JeongJakub KasperskiPrushodhj NiranjanDavid SmithErin TempleCatherine Vant-ErveJesselyn WhiteSonya Willson

We’re feeding back into the organization what we’re already doing well, and adding new things in- refining our program monitoring and evaluation tools, and planning more strategically. As we connect with new children, youth and families, and as the community as a whole becomes more aware of Green Thumbs Growing Kids’ learning gardens, we’ll continue to develop new resources and deeper partnerships.

Virginia Kairys, President

“We can tell my mom: people can grow their own food!”

Kinder-GARDEN student, Rawlinson Community School

2013 Expenses: :$175,702

2013 Revenues: $191,534

Grants 59%Government 16%

Corporate Donations 5%

Family Fdn Donations 11%

Admin Staff 7%

Professional Fees 5%

Office Expenses 1.2% Insurance 1.3%Fundraising Expenses 0.7%

Programs 85%

Individual Donations 8%

Service Fees/ Member Dues 1% Interest 0.1%

Our 2013 Team

From the board table to the office to our learning gardens, committed volunteers are key. Thank you all.

To read our full 2013 audited financial statements, please visit www.kidsgrowing.ca

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Kim Atwill-Bradbury, Kinder-GARDEN teacher Winchester Public School

It’s easy for us to forget that soil is not just a growth medium, or that young children may be fearful of dirt and crawly creatures.

In 2013, Green Thumbs Growing Kids tested a pilot kindergarten garden program (aptly named “Kinder-GARDEN”), engaging 8 teachers, and 301 children to learn about environmental stewardship. The program included both indoor activities and outdoor, such as “Snack Growing in a Cup” and “Recycling: add the worm

Green Thumbs Growing Kids révèle aux enfants un monde insolite. Pour eux, le jardin est un espace magique. Comme on voit sur la photo, les enfants s’intéressent à la production de la nourriture et comment elle arrive enfin à nos tables. Cet apprentissage est d’autant plus marquant quand il commence dans un jardin.

Nos bénévoles sont formés par GTGK, ce qui leur permet d’éduquer un public bien divers: enfants, familles, voire tous les amateurs du jardinage. Ils savent aussi accueillir ceux qui veulent partager leur propre savoir du

Growing Kids

Hands on the living soil

compost to the garden.” Once outside, children were

asked to close their eyes, place their hands on the garden bed, and reflect quietly on what they imagined to be taking place within the soil ecosystem. “What might the soil creature say to you if they could feel your hand on the soil surface?,” teachers asked.

GTGK programs such as these set the stage for cognitive awareness in children of gardens and ecosystems beyond what the eye can see.

jardinage. Cette année, on a monté 229 ateliers dont trois aux années intermédiaires. Sur la photo, on voit des élèves qui participent à un projet pilote de GTGK. Pour cette leçon, les enfants étudient le cycle d’un concombre : du plant au concombre et puis du concombre au cornichon. Tout leur est nouveau et le jardin leur sert d’espace d’apprentissage.

Grâce aux ressources fournies par Green Thumbs Growing Kids ces programmes touchent la vie des enfants dans l’école, le voisinage, et la communauté entière.

”Listening” to soil creatures

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In 2013, GTGK programming reached 3,681 children. Funding from the Community Environment Fund of Earth Day Canada and Sobey’s means 19 Kinder-GARDEN lesson plans are available to inspire garden educators at: www.kidsgrowing.ca/tool-kit/lesson-plans-worksheets.

s Tasting cucumbers 2 ways

Top 3 reasons for getting involved in Green Thumbs Growing Kids? GTGK gardens help children, youth and their families learn to grow organic food together, build relationships within their neighbourhood, and exchange food across cultures.

Hosne Ara, Volunteer Coordinator & Neighbour

À Winchester, un espace magique

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Mentoring Youth

In 2013, GTGK Urban Roots Youth and related programming reached 597 youth. Youth did much of the hard work GTGK gardens require to flourish, facilitated programs for others, and ran a stall at the new Regent Park Farmer’s Market.

Becoming soil alchemists

Another kind of gold

When Environment Specialist High Skills Majors Prushodhj Niranjan and Pantha Azmee first came to GTGK on co-op placements, school garden compost bins were suffering from a lack of attention. Without complaint, they researched the science of compost, shovelled out the

bins , then expertly shifted the balance to make healthy, nutrient-rich humus. Then they turned the compost weekly.

By early summer, the bins were heating up and smelling earthy–Prushodhj and Pantha had become alchemists, turning food waste into gardener’s gold.

Through it all, they learned not only about composting, but how to succeed in solving problems, and how to work with other youth and children, sharing their passion for the environment.

Leslie Topness, Urban Roots Youth Program Leader

Patrick Nadjiwon shares Anishnawbe traditions

Urban Roots Youth sell produce to a local chef

dig up that first potato, it feels like you’ve just won the lottery.

Supporting youth to become involved in gardening continues a historic practice that should not be forgotten. When the fruits of our labours were served at the fall Appreciation Evening for GTGK contributors, I could not have been more proud of the things the Urban Roots Youth accomplished together. Lynn T. Nguyen

s

s s Tasting cucumbers 2 ways

Top 3 reasons for getting involved in Green Thumbs Growing Kids? GTGK gardens help children, youth and their families learn to grow organic food together, build relationships within their neighbourhood, and exchange food across cultures.

Hosne Ara, Volunteer Coordinator & Neighbour

Urban Roots Youth got me hooked on veggies. I’ve probably eaten more veggies in the past 6 months than in the past 16 years. I know a lot more about organic food and healthy living and appreciate what’s on my table so much more now that I actually know how much work goes into growing food.

In the fall, for example, we were digging up the potatoes. Although it was loads of fun, it was hard: I get why they call it digging for gold, cause once you

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Taking Leadership

In 2013, GTGK welcomed 661

adults to community life in

our learning gardens in St.

Jamestown, Cabbagetown,

Moss Park, and Regent Park.

Without the Ontario Trillium

Foundation funding that has

made the expansion of our

volunteer program possible,

we could not sustain our

work with new generations

of gardeners.

Cultivating Community

Having Sunday Harrison join the Toronto Food Policy Council and play a role in advising the City as it moves forward with its new urban agriculture initiative has been fantastic. She has all the practical skills and knowledge

fresh air in his apartment, but that there, in the garden, he could breathe. He was so thankful.

Growing up in St. Jamestown, I was once in his shoes. That’s what keeps me coming back: the opportunity to inspire other young people to change their prospects, to see more options than just staying indoors, playing games on a computer screen. Sail Vettivelu,

GTGK alumna and member

In July, 2013, Green Thumbs Growing Kids released its research report in support of the Imagine a Garden in Every School campaign. School Food Gardens in Ontario: Educating for Health and Sustainability, funded in part by the Heart and Stroke Foundation, concludes with recommendations

of how projects actually happen in communities. The success of programs like Green Thumbs Growing Kids is opening the door to others.

Dr. Lauren Baker, Coordinator, Toronto Food Policy Council

In a garden, you can breathe

Imagine a garden in every school

People in high-rises don’t always have the opportunity to have gardens. Small community organizations like Green Thumbs Growing Kids that bring everyone together to do something positive for the community, and then stay around over the years are very important. Every year, residents ask me when the garden drop-ins are starting.

A young child came to me once, and told me that he couldn’t breathe

Sail Vettivelu with neighbourhood children

for future action to champion school food gardens as a tool for improving food security, nutrition and environmental education in Ontario.

By December, more than 20 school garden programs from across the province had joined the campaign network at: www.agardenineveryschool.ca.

“Gardens let kids engage with, get

excited by, and develop healthy relationships with food. Imagine a Garden in Every School inspires a vision and offers us an opportunity to develop the foundation for a healthy food system in every corner of Ontario” says Ontario Edible Education Network Coordinator Carolyn Webb.

s

On behalf of the Regent Park Community Food Centre and the Regent Park Food Partner-ship – we are thrilled to have Green Thumbs Growing Kids helping to animate this vibrant new public space. Their experi-ence leading innovative garden programming for children and

youth will help ensure that the greenhouse becomes a valuable educational resource for our community. We look forward to working together, and can’t wait to get started! Liz Curran, Community

Food Centre Manager

Be part of our learning gardens

Individual Membership: $10.00 per yearq I would like to add an additional gift to my membership fee: q $25 q $50 q $100 or $______________________Monthly: q $10 q $25 q $50 or $______________________ (Please include void cheque for pre-authorized payments)

q I’d like to learn more about leaving a legacy.

q For membership (+ donation, if included): By cheque: please make cheque payable to: Green Thumbs Growing Kids

q For donation only: By credit card online: visit https://www.canadahelps.org and search “Green Thumbs Growing Kids”

Name:_____________________________________________

Mailing Address:____________________________________

___________________________________________________

Email:_____________________________________________

Phone:_____________________________________________

Members have the opportunity to learn and teach gardening skills at our monthly work days, volunteer in Green Thumbs Growing Kids front-line programs, serve on our Board of Directors or on a Committee, vote at the Annual General Meeting, and attend educational and other events. Members receive regular updates on GTGK projects and programs.

Payment Options:I would like to join Green Thumbs Growing Kids:

Program Director Sunday Harrison

and GTGK President Virginia Kairys

outside the community greenhouse

construction site in Regent Park

Green Thumbs Growing Kids a facilité le jardinage communautaire pour enfants–le programme les Tourne-sols- à Allan Gardens. Ce partenariat a grandement contribué à semer bien plus que des légumes. En effet, il a permis de semer les sourires et l’ardeur des enfants qui jardinent avec leurs parents tout en augmentant leurs connaissances dans le domaine. Candice Nsongo, Community Health Worker,

Centre Francophone de Toronto

Garden & Greenhouse Spaces:

City of Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation facilities at Allan Gardens & Riverdale FarmToronto District School Board: F.H. Miller Jr. PSQueen Victoria PSRawlinson Community SchoolRose Ave. Jr. PS Sprucecourt PSWinchester Jr. & Sr. PSViamonde: École Gabrielle-Roy

Student Practicums:

George Brown College, Community Worker ProgramOntario Institute for Studies in EducationRyerson University, School of Nutrition Studies, Masters ProgramRyerson University, Early Childhood StudiesToronto District School Board Co-op Program - Environment Specialist

High Skills Major

Garden Programs:

ArtHeartCabbagetown Youth CentreCentre Francophone de Toronto DIY CampFresh City Farms Health NexusLeap into LiteracyRegent Park Farmer’s MarketRose Ave. Parenting and Family Literacy CentreSalvation ArmyServe Canada

Toronto District School Board Focus on YouthToronto District School Board Sustainability OfficeToronto Kiwanis Boys and Girls Clubs (Gerrard Unit)World Crops Program

Imagine a Garden in

Every School Campaign:

FoodShareOntario Agri-Food EducationSeeds of ChangeEcoSourceYork Region Food Network

Our Partners

Please detach here & send completed form with your cheque to 467 Parliament S t., PO Box 82874, Toronto ON M5A 3Y2

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Investing in Neighbourhoods

Community Recreation Investment Program

Working with children, youth, and families

to learn about, grow, and prepare fresh foods,

cultivated in an environmentally-sustainable

way, in hands-on programs

Members are very important to us, not only to vote for your Board of Directors, but to direct the organization over the longer term... For a ten dollar membership fee, we invite you to join us in the garden, the board room and the teaching spaces to help us grow our exciting vision.

Joe Durand, Board Member

467 Parliament St. PO Box 82874Toronto ON M5A 3Y2647.FIT.KIDS (647.348.5437)info@kidsgrowing.cakidsgrowing.caCharitable # 80696 2353 RR0001

2013 Individual Donors

Anonymous Ian BarmettLynne BrennanManuel & Cheryl BuchwaldThe Buyers Chosen FamilyPatricia CavanaghDavid ClandfieldJohn DuncanEllen FarrellyPaula FedeskiMichie GarlandRichard GotlibVirginia KairysFlorinda KotisaRobert Lepage

With thanks to all of our donors & funders for their generosity

Alfred & Genevieve MannEllen MichelsonBlake MurrayFranziska NonnenmannDavid RackusEva RyterbandPrateeksha SinghRichard SmithRobert SpenceFrances M. SummerhillStanley Ziberna & Nicole Clay

2013 Corporate Donors

Energy@WorkING DirectKeen CanadaMondelez Canada

ReverbTelus Community FundWhole Foods One-Dime-At-A-TimeWinchester Public School Advisory Council (Parents)The Printing HouseThe Brewers PlateOntario Teachers Insurance Plan

2013 Family Foundations

Lloyd Carr-Harris FoundationConn Smythe FoundationECHO FoundationGeorge Lunan FoundationLeonard & Gabryela Osin FoundationGeoffrey H. Wood Foundation

The Leanne Palylyk Children’s FoundationThe Marjorie and Joseph Wright Memorial Foundation

2013 Grants

Community Environment Fund, Earth Day CanadaHeart and Stroke FoundationHuman Resource s and Skills Development CanadaOntario Natural Food Co-opOntario Trillium FoundationSmall Change FundTD Friends of the Environment FoundationWhole Kids Foundation

please detach hereWe dream of learning gardens everywhere.