Donate to Help Young Growers Become Young Leaders

At Cultivating Community, summer is our busiest time of year. It is also when we welcome 24 Youth Grower interns from Portland Public Schools to our Boyd Street Urban Farm.

These teens are immersed in the daily flow of the farm - harvesting and delivering free fresh organic produce to senior neighbors, cooking together, and sharing new experiences alongside mentors from diverse backgrounds.

“Being in this program has been a highlight of my school year. We do fun activities, I have made friends, gotten work experience, learned new skills, and begun to feel a part of my new home." ~ 2023 Youth Intern

Most of our interns come from low-income or new American families. They face systemic barriers to food security, employment, and safe housing. Our internship opportunities are a chance to grow their self-confidence and hone their language, job, and leadership skills while serving the community.

This year, however, school budget cuts and the sunsetting of COVID relief funds have put our programs in jeopardy and we need your help. Our invaluable youth and school programming relies on community support for funding.

Through our programs, Cultivating Community provides training for hundreds of students each year. Our organization began with youth programming because we know how vital it is for young people to have hands-on outdoor learning experiences that spark curiosity and make connections between science, food systems, social justice, and health.

We all need the sense of belonging that comes from sharing food, planting something and seeing it take root, and feeling safe in our community. Please, donate today, if you are able, and help us keep this essential program running.

See you in the garden!

Silvan Shawe, Executive Director

P.S. As we enter our 22nd year, help us reach our goal of 22 new monthly sustaining supporters. Please consider a monthly gift to keep our student internships, school garden support, and kids' programming going year-round.

* Special thanks go to the Glickman Family Foundation and an anonymous donor for tripling all donations to our spring campaign for the final week to get us across the finish line (up to $2,500)!