A community garden on Westwood Road has received a $35,000 grant from the healthy communities fund.
The Guelph Community Foundation will announce the grant on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. at the West Village Community Development Co-operative at 150 Westwood Rd.
After the funding announcement there will be a tour of the garden and gardeners will share their experience of what the garden meant to them during the pandemic.
The healthy community funding addresses initiatives like the community garden which provide solutions for the long-lasting effects of Covid and tackles immediate needs.
The West Village is a neighbourhood in Guelph whose residents experienced food insecurity prior, during and after the pandemic.
“When a family has a limited income, taking money away from weekly groceries to spend on seedlings is a risk that families can’t take, a risk the plants won’t grow into produce the family will eat or will improve household food security,” said Ralf Mesenbrink, volunteer garden
coordinator and West Village board member, in a press release.
The garden started in June 2021 and now has 70 families tending to the garden. It provides food for 208 adults and children in the community.
