What happens when you donate to our innovative community non-profit?

• We grow 350 pounds of fresh produce for youth, food pantries and farmers markets.
• We provide jobs for 49 youth and community members to become stewards of their environment and community organizers.
• We build Somerville's first farm with the enthusiastic support of Mayor Joe Curtatone.
• 400 elementary and middle school children attend our Healthy Education gardening and nutrition classes in our 8 organic schoolyard gardens.
• We tap 20 local sugar maples for a Boil Down Festival with over 700 attendees.
• We engage over 100 new residents in racially equitable park planning.

When our dedicated mentors and enthusiastic youth come together, remarkable things happen. I have been Executive Director of Groundwork Somerville for over a year, and I have been increasingly inspired by our Green Team-young organizers who care deeply about this area's resources. They fought for and won increased funding for youth jobs in Somerville after meeting with state and local senators and congressmen; they built and planted Somerville's first farm at South Street, donating fresh vegetables to local food pantries and soup kitchens; they served local, state and national parks-removing invasive species and maintaining historic sites in the Boston Harbor Islands, Minuteman National Historic Park, and the Mystic River.

We couldn't be more proud of youth like Somerville High sophomore Daniel who spent his summer with the Green Team biking in all weather across the city to tend to gardens, clean up parks and reach out to the community, and who, in October, traveled to New York City to represent our city at the National Youth Summit, meeting with leaders from around the country, including the National Park Service and the EPA.

We rely on generous donors like you to keep this work alive, and to keep youth like Daniel employed in meaningful, community-oriented jobs. With your help, we will continue to plant and harvest, growing more healthy, local and affordable food for Somerville. We will continue to bring gardens and nutrition education to students in Somerville's schools, and we will work even harder to draw our community together for the sake of a sustainable, healthy, urban environment.

Please give generously, and help us grow a greener, healthier and more equitable Somerville.

Sincerely,
Chris Mancini
Executive Director