Grow Well Missouri Application Criteria
Grow Well Missouri partners with food pantries, local organizations, and volunteers to establish food gardening programs that reach out to food pantry customers. By offering a selection of seeds, vegetable transplants, educational materials, and one-on-one advice, Grow Well Missouri helps people reap the many benefits of gardening. In 2016, Grow Well Missouri will help up to 6 communities that want to join us and become a Grow Well Missouri partner. Grow Well Missouri currently partners with food pantries and local organizations in Shelbina, St. James, Columbia, Mexico, California, and Boonville, Missouri.
Applications will be scored on the following criteria (21 points total):
· General interest among food pantry customers (i.e. clients, guests) (3 pts.)
· Project leadership (3 pts.)
· Partnership and support from the food pantry leadership and at least one of the following groups: (5 pts.)
o Master Gardeners
o Garden Club
o 4H
o Future Farmers of America
o Health department
o Community Action
o Other related agency, organization, or business
· Volunteer support for both seed repackaging (approximately 12-15 volunteers for a 3 hour period) and staffing Grow Well Missouri program during food distributions (number may depend on food pantry schedule and available volunteers) (3 pts.)
· Knowledge of the food pantry schedule and number of households and individuals served per month (2 pts.)
· A plan for where and how the program will operate within the food pantry distribution, including a proposed schedule (3 pts.)
· Interest in incorporating additional project activities including vegetable transplants, short courses, gardening demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, or other (2 pts.)
· Some consideration will be given to a group’s location. We hope to spread the project around to different parts of the state.
Responsibilities of Partner Awardees
If selected to be a Grow Well Missouri partner, awardees agree to the following:
· Attend a face-to-face orientation to cover project logistics and seed repacking demonstration. The training will likely take place in Columbia, Missouri in January or February, 2016.
· Repack seeds
· Schedule and staff program at the pantry
· Print educational materials
· Provide paper bags for seed distribution
· Acquire and distribute vegetable transplants (optional, but encouraged)
· Keep count of participants (template provided)
· Provide brief reports to and meet with Grow Well Missouri staff upon request
· Assist Grow Well Missouri staff with project evaluation (may include pre and post season surveys with food pantry customers)
Grow Well Missouri Partner Application
Applicant Information
Full Name: / Date:Last / First / M.I.
Address:
Street Address / Apartment/Unit #
City / State / ZIP Code
Phone: / Email:
Food Pantry Information
Food Pantry Director’s Name (if different): / Food Pantry Director’s Phone & Email:Food Pantry Schedule (days and hours):
Which regional food bank
is the pantry affiliated with:
No. of households served per month at food pantry: / No. of individuals served per month at food pantry:
Project Leadership
Please tell us who will be responsible for the project. We encourage a 2-3 person leadership team. Please provide contact information if different from named person above.
Name: / Phone or Email:Name: / Phone or Email:
Name: / Phone or Email
Partners
Please list the local partners who plan to be involved along with their expected role in the project.
Partner Name: / Role in project:Partner Contact Person: / Phone or Email:
Partner Name: / Role in project:
Partner Contact Person: / Phone or Email:
Partner Name: / Role in project:
Partner Contact Person: / Phone or Email:
Additional Questions (Please feel free to use additional pages if needed)
1. Please tell us how you have determined the general interest in vegetable gardening and Grow Well Missouri among food pantry customers.
2. How will you recruit volunteers OR what volunteer commitments do you have in place for the seed repacking and staffing Grow Well Missouri during food distribution?
3. Please describe where and how you plan to integrate the Grow Well Missouri program into food pantry distributions.
4. Considering the food pantry’s hours of operation, please tell us when you plan to operate Grow Well Missouri at the food pantry. (i.e. Tentatively, what days and hours will you set up and offer the program. Please note: Groups are not required to offer the program every day the food pantry is open.)
5. Please tell us how many households you intend to reach. (Note: Based on our experience, half of all households who come to the pantry on a given day also participate in Grow Well Missouri.)
6. Please describe any ideas or plans you have to offer additional and related project activities during the growing season.
Letter of Support
Please include one brief letter of support from either the food pantry (if application is being submitted by a group other than the food pantry) or a partnering agency/organization.
Application Submission Deadline
· The deadline for Partner Applications is December 18, 2015. We anticipate awardees will be notified by January 4, 2016.
· Partner Applications can be submitted in the following ways:
o By email to Bill McKelvey at
o By mail to:
Bill McKelvey
University of Missouri
203 Gentry Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
· If you have question about Grow Well Missouri or this Application, please contact Bill McKelvey at or 573-882-4973.
Timelines and important dates
Time / ActivityDecember 18, 2015 / Applications due
January 4, 2016 / Awards announced (tentative)
January - February / Attend face to face orientation, pick up seeds, organize and obtain all seed repacking materials
February / Organize and conduct seed repacking, develop seed display, finalize logistics and schedules, outline educational components, gather educational materials
March / Begin distributing cool season seeds and transplants
April / Begin distributing warm season seeds, continue with cool season seeds
May / Distribute warm season transplants, continue with warm season seeds
June / Distribute sweet potato slips and continue with warm season seeds until the middle of the month
July – September / Consider options for additional programming, demonstrations, classes, or fall seed distribution (July), etc.
http://foodsecurity.missouri.edu