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Fairgate Farm Inc. (2020) Print
2020 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
To make Fairgate Farm more accessible for people of all ages and abilities, project organizers extended an existing ADA-compliant crushed stone walkway leading from the farm's entrance to its market. They also made gathering at the farm more comfortable by installing picnic tables, benches, a bike rack and raised gardening beds. The urban garden and community gathering space on Stamford's West Side hosts programming for community members, from cooking demos to gardening workshops and cooking classes. Fairgate Farm attracts volunteers from across the community, who grow and distribute more than 5,000 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables each year. The produce is then donated to low-income volunteers, their families and local hunger relief charities.
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See More Projects Like This One
Luverne, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Project Food Forest installed three sculptural trellises at the Prairie Ally Outdoor Center. Home to the community's food forest, garden beds at the five-acre site feature edible and medicinal plants. To commemorate Luverne's agricultural history, artists constructed each trellis out of old farm and garden tools. Project organizers also added signs displaying the common and scientific names for plants in the forest, as well as two picnic tables. Located near downtown, the site is accessible by a popular biking and walking path. The forest is open to the public daily and the Outdoor Center offers guided tours and workshops onsite.
Center Township, IN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The Edna Martin Christian Center set out to provide food access, recreation options and income opportunities for residents of the Martindale-Brightwood area by creating a new urban garden space. To extend the growing season, project organizers built a hoop house at its Henry Blair Farm and Urban Gardens. The Center installed raised garden beds at the site, designed for gardeners to use while standing. New walking paths also ensured the gardens' accessibility. In addition, the Center created a labyrinth for prayer and medication, as well as a farm stand made from a repurposed shipping container. Project organizers envision residents using the beds for entrepreneurial projects, such as growing flowers or vegetable seedlings to sell at the farm stand. They also anticipate the gardens' operation needs will create employment opportunities for local older adults.
Ellington, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The town will install a greenhouse at a senior center's garden, which grows produce for the local food pantry. The greenhouse will lengthen the growing season, enabling volunteers to garden during colder months.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Rye Brook, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create a community garden at a local senior center. The space will allow volunteer gardeners to grow fresh produce to distribute to older adults in need.
Glen Cove, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Transportation Other
Description: This project will hold digital literacy workshops for older adults on using transit apps . Participants will apply their skills on transit-based learning trips and conduct transit audits to improve safety and accessibility.
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