Custer, SD

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: After flooding destroyed the Custer Community Garden, the Custer Area Economic Development set out to relocate the beloved amenity to a new site. The organization created a new garden at a local high school, installing 16 raised beds, including wheelchair accessible and raised options to accommodate gardeners of all ability levels. Workers laid compost and mulch at the site and installed fencing to keep out foraging wildlife. The school's lunch program now has access to excess produce grown in the garden, which also provides educational programming to the community. Project organizers report that since the improvements, leaders from neighboring communities have reached out for advice for creating their own gardens.

Anderson, SC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: To expose locals to art and grow food for people in need, Anderson Arts Center beautified its campus by creating a new mural and community garden. The first mural in Anderson, it depicts a rabbit alongside a colorful fruit and vegetables. Since its completion, it has inspired other local organizations to create their own murals around town. Project organizers say within the garden's first year, the Center taught nearly 500 children about growing fresh vegetables. The Arts Center, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, hosts gallery exhibitions featuring regional, national and international artists, orchestrates downtown public arts projects and is home to a summer arts camp and arts school for children and adults.

St. Louis, MO

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: STL Village partnered with volunteers from the community to restore the Lewis Place Community Garden, which had gone unplanted during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers cleared the site of overgrowth, refurbished garden beds, installed a storage shed and planted and watered vegetables, shrubs and trees. Neighborhood residents formed a garden committee charged with maintaining the site going forward. STL Village also created a resource guide for local older adults with a specific focus on services for low-income families.