Community Grants Program

Each year the Tacoma Garden Club selects one or more community organizations to receive small grants based on submitted applications.

Mission:

  • To stimulate a love of gardening
  • To protect the quality of the environment
  • To encourage civic improvement
  • To support charitable, scientific, and educational activities in each of the above categories
Kapowsin Elementary School Garden-XL

Grants Awarded in 2021

The Tacoma Garden Club presented eleven Community Grants in 2021.

Cousins Collective

The grant funded seeds, soil, mason bees, mason bee houses, and program materials utilized to share seeds harvested from last year's crop.

Food is Free

The grant funded fixing an error in the custom design watering system – it needed 4 zones rather than the 2 installed when the garden was built.

Lakewold Gardens

These grant funds went the purchase and installation of a 10 x 10 garden shed that is used to store tools during construction of carriage house.

Nautilus Guild

Funds were granted towards the groups 501(c)3 application.

Point Defiance School Garden

This grant funded the purchase tomato & cucumber cages along with seeds and amendment soil for their edible school yard.

Puyallup Historical Hatchery Foundation

The grant funded a mural and signage for educational center.

Salishan Community Health Advocates

This grant funded the additional irrigation to accommodate all garden plots.

Skyline Elementary School

This grant funded the increase to the beauty of the area through the purchase of twenty bags compost/manure, lavender, rosemary, salvia, blackeyed susan, echnicea, and two butterfly bushes and three ceanothus.

Tacoma Community College Sustainability Garden

This grant funded three signs for the garden: The first sign contains a welcome message, mission statement, contact information, basic safety rules, and a QR code for more information. The second sign is a large rectangular sign with the name of the garden’s new logo. The third sign is a land acknowledgement. This sign also has a QR code that links to the acknowledgement being read in the Puget-Salish language.

Tacoma Farmers Market

These funds Sponsored a free cooking demo to Bay Terrace Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) residents, Attendees were shown how to incorporate local and seasonal produce into everyday meals.

University Place Community Garden

This grant funded the installation of 6 Blueberry plants, 1 Italian plum semi dwarf, 1 cherry tree and a 30’ rain gutter.

APPLICANT INFORMATION

The qualifying application must meet the following criteria:

  • Grant requests should relate to the above mission statement
  • Grant requests need to be for a specific project (see sidebar for examples)
  • Proposed projects must be within the boundary of Pierce County
  • Monies requested must be used by June 15 following their receipt
  • Maximum grant amount is $500
  • Priority for funding will be given to projects that did not receive a grant during the last two years.
  • Eligible Applicants are an organization or entity including those such as nonprofits as defined by the state of Washington*, government agencies, private or public schools, hospitals, retirement centers, rehabilitation facilities and youth programs.

*A non-profit as defined by the Washington State Department of Revenue:

  • It is formed under the Washington nonprofit corporation act,
  • It qualifies as a nonprofit for federal tax purposes, or
  • It is a church, charity, or benevolent organization
  • Grants are not available to individuals, homeowners, homeowner associations or political organizations.
  • Greatest consideration is given to those applicants with the ability for large community impact or out-reach.

If you feel you are qualified organization, we invite you to apply for one of our available grants. Past grants have helped purchase items such as fencing for community gardens, rain barrels, drip systems, brochures, garden tools, and educational activities.

Schedule:

July 1 Applications accepted
September 30 Application deadline (must be received by 5 pm)
Oct. 8 to Oct. 30 On-site visits to applicants by committee members
November 1 Committee reviews all applications
November 24 Notification letters and checks sent to grantees
May 15 Recipients will send photos of projects to email listed in Contact section

APPLICATION

Click the link to view the: Grants Application form.
Follow the instructions in the red box at the top of the form.

CONTACT
You may also mail your completed application to:

Community Grants Program Chair
Tacoma Garden Club
PO Box 64235
University Place WA 98464-0235

We are available to help you with questions concerning this application.
Email your questions to: TGCsmallgrants@tacomagardenclub.org (click on email address) Please include a contact name and phone number.

2020 - 2021 Recipients

Salishan Association
Replace fencing

Lakewold Gardens
Purchase Electric chainsaw

Food is Free
Purchase row cover fabric and wire supports

Emergency Food Network
Purchase shade cloth for high tunnel greenhouse

Cousin Cooperative Pollinators and Propagators
Supplies to create a wildflower pollinator, vegetable and herb gardens

2019 - 2020 Recipients

Children’s Museum of Tacoma
The Children’s Outdoor Area

Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy (Ashford)
Commercial grade dehydrator to preserve foods grown in the garden

Delong Elementary PTA
Nutrition and science gardening lessons to carry learning from their garden into the classroom

Food is Free Project (Tacoma)
Building materials for 10 tables; share excess produce from neighborhood garden

Habitat for Humanity Tacoma ⁄ Pierce County
Building materials for two community garden beds in Midland

Healthy Generations Gardens (Salishan)
Multilingual signs

Kapowsin PTA (Graham)
Soaker drip line for Giving Garden

Orting Community Garden
United Methodist Church
Pruners, watering cans, hog wire

Point Defiance Elementary School Garden
Tomato cages, garden gloves, weeding tools, potting soil, seeds

Soundview Camp & Retreat Center (Longbranch)
Drip irrigation system

0515211237_HDR~2

TCG Contributions

The Tacoma Garden Club annually donates to various like-minded 501(c)3 organizations.

South Sound Public Gardens

Noteworthy gardens to visit in the South Puget Sound region.
Click on the name to visit their website.

Pasque

Albers Marcovina Vista Gardens www.albersvistagardens.org/

Chinese Reconciliation Park https://www.tacomachinesepark.org/

Elandan Gardens www.elandangardens.com

Lake Wilderness Arboretum Foundation www.lakewildernessarboretum.org

Lakewold Gardens www.lakewoldgardens.org

Pacific Bonsai Museum www.pacificbonsaimuseum.org

Point Defiance Gardens https://www.metroparkstacoma.org/point-defiance-park-gardens/

Powellswood www.powellswood.org

Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden www.rhodygarden.org

Seymour Botanical Conservatory Foundation www.metroparkstacoma.org/conservatory

Soos Creek Botanical Garden www.sooscreekbotanicalgarden.org

Tacoma Nature Center www.metroparksfoundation.org/tacomanaturecenter

0510211223

Local Community Resources

Citizens for a Healthy Bay – www.healthybay.org

Great Plant Picks - www.greatplantpicks.org

Greater MetroParks Foundation - https://www.metroparksfoundation.org/

Heronswood Garden – www.heronswoodgarden.org

Native Plant Salvage Foundation – https://nativeplantsalvage.org

North Olympic Land Trust – www.northolympiclandtrust.org

Northwest Perennial Alliance – www.northwestperennialalliance.org

Pierce Conservation District - https://piercecd.org/

Pierce County Master Gardeners - https://extension.wsu.edu/pierce/mg/

Plant Amnesty – www.plantamnesty.org

Puyallup Watershed Initiative – www.pwi.org

Tahoma Audubon Society – www.tahomaaudubon.org

The Center for Urban Waters - https://www.urbanwaters.org

The Tacoma Tree Foundation – www.tacomatreefoundation.org

The Right Plants – Tacoma Public Utilities - https://www.mytpu.org/wp-content/uploads/planning-planting-june.pdf

Washington Environmental Council - https://pspwa.app.box.com/s/5auauv2pebe0f9lrw2vfvfsjmyhpjgo5

Washington Native Plant Society – https://www.wnps.org


PO Box 64235
University Place, WA 98464-0235
info@tacomagardenclub.org