2016 Garden Walk funds provide $30,460 in support to local garden projects and scholarships

Ann Arbor Farm & Garden is pleased to announce the recipients of our 2017 grants and scholarships. Funded by proceeds from our 2016 Ann Arbor Garden Walk, we distributed $30,460 to these worthy local schools, students, and projects.
 
Scholarships
U-M Biological Station $1500
U-M School of Natural Resources & the Environment $1500
M. Wheeler, UM-Flint $1500
 
Grants
4-H/Washtenaw County Juvenile Detention Center garden $1690
Dicken P.L.A.N.T. garden $1070
Edible Avalon residential gardens $1700
Starr Commonwealth garden $1000
A2 Open School garden $2000
Slauson Middle School garden expansion $5000
Green Apple Playschool garden $1500
Matthaei Botanical Gardens orchid garden $12,000

                   Thank you to all our Garden Walkers, sponsors, and supporters for
                                          helping AAF&G grow a greener community!!

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Our Commitment to Giving

Since 1946, Ann Arbor Farm & Garden has distributed more than $500,000 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.
Click on the logos at right to learn more about some of our recent grant recipients and the great work they are doing in our community.

Scholarships
Providing critical financial support to students has long been a goal of Ann Arbor Farm & Garden. 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 Natural Resources and the Environment (SNRE). We also support the student internship endowment at Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum.

Giving on a Global Scale
Since 1962, the Ann Arbor Branch has provided support to four WNF&GA programs: 4-H Leadership Training, International 4-H Exchange, the Frysinger Fellowship, and the Lady Aberdeen Scholarship. Information about these programs can be found at www.wnfga.org.

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

Working in the Wild
BioStation scholarship recipients make the most of field research opportunities

AAF&G has proudly provided scholarship support to graduate students at the U-M Biological Station (UMBS) for decades. Several of our members visited the Bio Station in summer 2014, and discovered a whole new world of critical field research, carried out by enthusiastic students and staff.

This summer, our support funded two student researchers -- Wendy Dorman, an M.S. candidate at Eastern Michigan University, and Jaclyn Inkster, an M.S. candidate in biology at East Carolina University, Wendy spent the summer investigating an endangered orchid species, while Jaclyn studied plant-insect interactions of the threatened Pitcher's thistle.

Read Wendy's and Jaclyn's reports here. Can the orchid species be reintroduced? Can the non-native seed head weevil that's damaging the Pitcher's thistle be stopped? Find out what they learned!

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 Branch Woman's National Farm & Garden Assn." as your charity of choice. Thank you!

Past Grant Recipients

Hoophouse construction, school garden initiative

Tappan Middle School