Dunbar Garden, Founders Fund Finalist, Makes Headlines in Arkansas

November 05, 2018

In the news...

The Garden Club of America’s 2018 Founders Fund Finalist Dunbar Garden, an outdoor education center in Little Rock, was recently featured in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper. Executive Director of Dunbar Garden, Audrey Long, said the facility will apply the $10,000 award toward building an energy efficient outdoor kitchen classroom. The Little Rock Garden Club, one of 200 member clubs in The Garden Club of America, nominated Dunbar Garden.

The Founders Fund program was created in 1934 and annually presents grants to member club projects, upon the vote of the GCA membership. The program furthers the GCA’s purpose to “‘improve and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation and civic improvement.”

For over 25 years Dunbar Garden has realized its mission of preserving the relationship between education and the natural world by offering programs engaging people of all ages and backgrounds. Dunbar Garden offers programming focused on nutritional gardening with planned workshops and classes in food preparation and food storage, using produce straight from its on-site garden. The garden is a two-acre site in urban Little Rock between Dunbar Middle and Gibbs Elementary schools. Each month, nearly 800 students as well as local church groups, home school families, and private schools visit the garden. Participants learn the skills to grow, harvest, and store food and how to prepare inexpensive and nutritious meals.

While the national food insecurity rate is at 16 percent, over 21 percent of households near Dunbar Garden do not have access to adequately nutritious food to support a healthy lifestyle. Dunbar Garden is working to address the food insecurity that affects the community by offering access to fruits and vegetables grown on-site.

See All News