Success Stories

"I think The Growing Project does a wonderful job in being a very welcoming, approachable community that volunteers return to because they not only find a passion in the cause, but find community and friendship with those they are working alongside."

- Intern of The Growing Project, 2014


"One of the residents and I have become friends outside of the garden as well. He is an individual with whom I doubt, outside of The Growing Project, I ever would have had an interaction with. I am grateful to TGP for being the conduit from which this friendship grew."

-Garden Intern talking about working with a resident from Fort Collins Housing Authority Garden, 2014


"  We know that almost 100% of The Growing Project's donated produce goes to Food Share clients. 14,000 of our annual unduplicated clients rely on us for over half their food. 25,000 of our clients would eat less than 3 servings of fruits and vegetables per day if they didn’t have access to Food Share. We would not be able to provide even close to the 5 servings per day of produce without The Growing Project. Our missions align as we try and provide more locally grown, nutritious foods to those in need."

-Bruce Wallace, Programs Director, Food Bank for Larimer County, 2014


"This has been an awesome season with The Growing Project. I love coming to the garden and seeing new and familiar faces, feeling the rich soil between my fingers, and listening to the birds and breezes come and go. Plus, there is nothing like the sweet taste of fresh peas, carrots, and beets that I helped grow with a community of people."

-Volunteer, 2014

"One of the participants told us he went home last week after learning how to make fresh salsa in class and made it twice, once by himself and once with his mom. when asked how his turned out, he said, "it tasted exactly how it did in our class. i remembered all the ingredients."


-Horticultural Therapist talking about a Garden Time participant, 2014


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"While clearing the garden beds, two boys burst into spontaneous songs that they said helped them work. Multiple kids said they felt stronger after pulling out plants and taking them to the composter."



-Horticultural Therapist talking about youth participants at The Family Center/La Familia, 2014



"Harvest has consistently proved to be one of the most rewarding activities for younger participants. They love to wash and eat on the spot as well as have some to take home and share with family members."


-Horticultural Therapist talking about youth participants at The Family Center/La Familia, 2014

"Three years ago I moved to Fort Collins from Red Feather Lakes. I have MS and had just retired on disability. I couldn’t drive anymore so needed to move to town after 23 years of living in the mountains. It was a really hard time, but luckily I moved to a house with a ¼ acre, fruit trees, and an old garden bed. I began spending every day out there creating and I slowly began to get better. One day I read about Food Finders in the newspaper – I realized I have a bicycle and extra time on my hands so I emailed you and offered to volunteer. I have some cognitive problems from the MS so at first it was a challenge to remember to do the route every week! But that weekly commitment became an important cognitive anchor for me, a responsibility again. And those weekly rides were a spark – I went to the Bike Co-Op and fixed up my old mountain bike into a trailer hauling machine. I began to love riding my bike, and now I ride it everywhere. I am in the best physical shape I’ve ever been. Going to the farm every week, being exposed to all that amazing food has also completely transformed how I eat – no processed food, tons of veggies, (found out I’m celiac so no gluten, dairy, soy, etc.) - and this more than anything is the reason I am healthy today. My MS is now in remission, I’m back in school, and will be rejoining the work force in a few years when I finish my degree.
 
I can tell you with certainty that I wouldn’t be where I am today without The Growing Project and Food Finders. I love my weekly bicycle route with a trailer full of vegetables! It symbolizes everything about this journey I’ve taken over the past few years.  You and TGP and Food Finders have had a life changing impact on me, and I thank you."

-Sue, Food Finders volunteer

"These 8 weeks, I have learned more than I could have at school sitting at a desk. I had a lot of judgements towards the garden at first but I had an amazing time. For this one summer, I didn't get to decide what I was going to do. But not knowing was fun. I learned more about the homeless and that was amazing. I want to come back and volunteer when our program is over.”

-Teens for Food Justice participant, 2015

"I feel proud about our service project because we did a thing that huge corporate companies wouldn't do and we showed our community that we cared."

-Teens for Food Justice participant, 2015

"The 8 weeks I was with The Growing Project I have learned more about the homeless and their situations. I have learned more about myself, like I never knew I liked zucchini or pulling weeds. My favorite trip was to Harvest Farm, I loved their pizza garden. TGP is an accepting place they don't look at you for why you are in here, they honestly don't care. They care about the person you will become in the future."

-Teens for Food Justice participant, 2015