Sodexo Youth Grant: An Opportunity for Hydroponics

As you may have read in the last post, we have considered the idea of a hydroponics system in the MH garden. Although they are various DIUY versions of the system, purchasing a system online would be rather pricey. However, Mrs. Paulson suggested a great way of potentially funding such a plan: The 2020 Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation Youth Grant!

The Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation is looking for the best ideas from young people about how they can help end childhood hunger in their communities. Grants of up to $1,200 are available for youth leaders across the U.S. to turn their ideas into action and make an impact on the issue of childhood hunger on Global Youth Service Day – April 17-19, 2020 – and during the summer.

After looking at many of the recipients of the grant, I believe that our project fits right into the ideas that the foundation is looking for. In fact, many of the winners are community-garden-focused initiatives. I also believe that the innovation of developing a garden with new technology would set us apart from the rest of the projects.

We would want to include as many HOPE members as possible in the project; the more youth involved, the larger the grant awarded. However I also believe that the potential impact of our garden would have a far greater reach with the system, allowing us to reach more families in the area. The sustainability of the garden, being able to not only relieve hunger today but prevent it tomorrow, is an aspect that they are searching for when awarding the grant.

We are excited to see if we can get the funds necessary to kick start the project. Deadline is Feb. 16 and we hope to see a response in the Spring.

Thanks for reading!