Why is AAF&G's mission so important? 

For more than 70 years, Ann Arbor Farm & Garden has been supporting gardens and green spaces in our community. We’re passionate about gardens and horticultural therapy, and the many, many benefits that accrue from each. Every year we award grants to school gardens, therapeutic gardens, edible gardens, community gardens and more. Why? This is what a sampling of studies and statistics on the many benefits of gardens have to say:
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• Students (grades 3-5) who participated in a one-year gardening program showed a significant increase in self-understanding and the ability to work in groups.
•  Students involved in gardening make greater science achievement gains than non-gardening students. Gardening activities can be integrated into all areas of the school curriculum. Parental involvement increases at schools with garden programs.  
  
• Children who grow their own food are more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
•  Youth interns in community gardens reported increases in maturity, responsibility and interpersonal skills.  
  
• Juvenile offenders who participated in a horticultural training program believed that it sparked their interest in further education, gave them ideas for green careers, and improved their job skills.
•  Community gardens foster a sense of community ownership and stewardship, bringing people of varied ages, races, cultures, and social class together and enabling them to work and learn together.  
  
• Community gardens are recognized as an effective crime prevention strategy. Crime rates decrease as an area’s green space increases; community involvement puts more “eyes on the street.”
•  Gardens filter rainwater, clean the air, reduce soil erosion and runoff, provide wildlife habitat, and beautify our surroundings.  
  
• Being in natural places fosters recovery from mental fatigue, improves outlook and life satisfaction, helps us to cope with and recover from stress, improves our ability to recover from illness and injury, restores concentration, and improves productivity.

Our efforts DO make a difference!! When you participate in our annual June Garden Walk, you are directly funding worthwhile projects throughout the community. Thank you!!

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Our Commitment to Giving

Since 1946, Ann Arbor Farm & Garden has distributed more than $600,000 in charitable grants to a diverse group of local institutions and community projects. Along with beautification and environmental restoration efforts, several of the programs selected in recent years have focused on community vegetable gardens, introducing children to gardening, and those involved in local agriculture. We’ve awarded many grants to local institutions for the creation and restoration of public and specialty gardens, such as the Gaffield Children's Garden at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and the Centennial Shrub Collection at Nichols Arboretum. These green spaces enhance the environment and provide enjoyment for visitors of all ages.

Scholarships
Providing critical financial support to students has been part of our mission from the very start. For more than 20 years, we’ve awarded an annual graduate student scholarship at the U-M Biological Station and a scholarship for a student in U-M’s School of Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). We also support the student internship endowment at Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum.

For a complete list of AAF&G grant recipients, click here.

Did you know ....

Shopping on Amazon can help support AAF&G?!?
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets you enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the eligible charitable organization of your choice. Sign up with the AmazonSmile program and select "Ann Arbor   Farm & Garden" as your charity of choice. Thank you!

Past Grant Recipients

Hoophouse construction, school garden initiative

Tappan Middle School