Montgomery County is now accepting applications for its Resident and Community Food Production Gardening Grant Program. An information session for applicants will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16.
The program will make available $160,000 in grants to County nonprofit organizations that expand local food production through home and community farming and gardening. Nonprofit organizations or community groups with nonprofit partners can apply for up to $25,000.
Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. Awards will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The grant awards will be funded through County general funds and funding through the Federal CARES Act that was appropriated by Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and the County Council to address local food insecurity during the COVID-19 health crisis. Administration of the program is a partnership between the Montgomery County Food Security Task Force, the County’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Montgomery County Food Council.
Application form are available in English and Spanish at https://mocofoodcouncil.org/gardengrants/
If any organization cannot complete the application online, or requires the application be provided in a language other than English or Spanish, it can contact Massa Cressall at mcressall@mocofoodcouncil.org.
An information session for applicants will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, via Zoom. The session can be accessed at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82994397818?pwd=ZDg0VUE0UWdXNjcwR0tGQXlFQ29qUT09.
The meeting ID is 829 9439 7818. The passcode is 912372.
A panel of local community, food security and gardening stakeholders will review the applications and determine grant awards. Funding priority will be given to projects that:
- Establish new or renewed small-scale food production locations, especially those that increase access to culturally appropriate foods in Montgomery County.
- Provide gardening and nutrition education resources.
- Engage community residents directly in food production.
- Demonstrate partnerships with the business community.
- Provide planting materials, containers, seeds, seedlings and/or educational programming to residents to enable them to grow their own produce in yards and/or on patios.
- Increase food access for residents in zip codes with high rates of food insecurity.
