Does Mendham Township Elementary School have an Orange Thumb?The Mendham Township Education Foundation is hard at work raising funds for a very important and exciting project at London and Maddie's school. With the generous support of Mendham Township parents and others, the education foundation is working to construct an outdoor learning center in the Mendham Township Elementary School library courtyard, converting an unused area to a rich learning center that will strongly benefit the students and help the community in a variety of ways. The concept of this project has been under discussion for over six years by a number of different groups, but in the past six months, the Mendham Township Education Foundation has made great strides towards getting it done.
In addition to the generous donations of local families, I'm hopeful that the Mendham Township Education Foundation Outdoor Learning Center Project will qualify for a 2009 Project Orange Thumb grant from Fiskars. The Fiskars Project Orange Thumb grant would be a great resource to provide some of the tools and funding needed to execute the plans for the Mendham Township Elementary School garden. Within the United States and Canada, twenty (20) winners will be selected to receive grants of up to $1,500 in Fiskars garden tools and up to $800 in gardening-related materials (i.e. green goods). According to the rules on the Project Orange Thumb web site, gardens and/or gardening projects geared toward community involvement, neighborhood beautification, sustainable agriculture and/or horticultural education are eligible. Community garden groups, as well as schools, youth groups, community centers, camps, clubs, treatment facilities are all encouraged to apply. The Mendham Township Education Foundation Outdoor Learning Center Project seems like a perfect fit for a Project Orange Thumb grant from Fiskars.
Marking Fiskars sixth successful year in 2008, Project Orange Thumb has provided over 100 community groups with over $300,000 to create and develop their own special community gardens. The application deadline for the 2009 Project Orange Thumb grant cycle is Febuary 17, 2009, and grant recipients will be notified on March 25, 2009, in plenty of time to meet our goal for completion of the Outdoor Learning Center over the summer.
