SAGE Co-Ordinator Kathryn Maxwell with IMB Moruya Bank Manager Lachlan McDonald. Photo: Alex Rea
Fresh is best and the Eurobodalla is about to experience more of it with more back-yard vegetable gardeners, veggie beds and a new community garden growing from a $20,000 grant for the SAGE 2019 Veggies for All program.
Sustainable Agriculture and Gardening Eurobodalla (SAGE) received the grant from the IMB Bank Community Foundation, enabling the successful program to continue.
The SAGE Veggies for All program is supported by an enthusiastic team of volunteers led by program coordinator Kathryn Maxwell who said they are all excited about the funds.
“We are thrilled and very grateful that the IMB Bank Community Foundation has announced it will generously fund our program for another year,” Ms Maxwell said.
“In the past few years we have been able to install around 150 raised veggie beds in the homes of Centrelink recipients and we have welcomed more than 300 people through our vegetable gardening workshops.”
Half of the $20,000 will be used to establish a community garden at the Anglican Parish, behind the Red Door Hall. The other half will be used to run four basic gardening workshops.
Forty Centrelink recipients who attend these $15 workshops will then be eligible to receive a fully installed above ground veggie bed, complete with veggie soil mix, sugarcane mulch and seedling vouchers.
The next workshops will be held on:
- Saturday, August 10, Red Door Hall Anglican Parish, Page Street, Moruya, 11 am-2 pm
- Saturday, September 7, Tuross Head Community Garden, just past the Kyla Hall, 11 am-2 pm
Everyone is invited to attend, email – [email protected] or phone – 0467 558 645.
The Veggies for All project was singled out at the recent IMB Community Foundation 20th Anniversary celebrations at the National Gallery of Australia, receiving two awards for their work educating and providing low-cost veggie courses.
SAGE Co-Ordinator Kathryn Maxwell with SAGE founder Stuart Whitelaw. Photo: Alex Rea
Lachlan McDonald, Branch Manager of IMB Bank Moruya said “We believe that supporting projects that foster inclusion, that encourage volunteering and that create sustainable outcomes, enable the communities around us to thrive.”
The IMB Community Foundation is now in its 20th year, and has supported more than 700 projects, investing over $10 million. Veggies for All has received $25,000 in grants since 2017.
Mr McDonald said “we’re fortunate enough to be partnering with SAGE for the third year in a row, to support their amazing Veggies for All project.”
“It’s hard to think of a project that better embodies the IMB Bank values, and indeed because of this SAGE and Veggies for All has been selected as a standout project for IMB.
“Out of more than 700 projects IMB has partnered with, we consider it to be amongst the top 20 that demonstrate innovation and commitment, address local needs and connect communities in pursuit of common goals, and that do so by strengthening the communities in which they operate,” he said.
Mr McDonald added, “The wonderful Kathryn Maxwell, SAGE Co-ordinator, was also recognized as one of our Community Heroes – those people whose tireless efforts to support others and whose persistence to deliver meaningful project outcomes has fostered such amazing success.”
Robert Cove from SAGE installing one of the backyard Veggie patches in 2018. Photo Supplied.
Kathryn Maxwell said, “there will be a significant number of volunteers to assist with the installs, however, we are always looking for more – even for half a day.”
To get involved, phone – 0467 558 645 or email – [email protected]
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