Kitchen Garden Kickstart Grants in action

For the second year in a row, the Foundation has been proud to partner with General Mills to give 12 schools across Australia a Kitchen Garden Kickstart Grant valued at around $8000, to be invested in infrastructure and program development. Today we got to see that support in action, when we joined the General Mills team at Gladesville Primary School east of Melbourne, to get our hands in the dirt.

There were nine metres of mulch to be moved, beds to be prepped, weed matting to be lined and seedlings to plant. With so much to be done, the General Mills team got stuck in, and really got a taste of the Kitchen Garden experience.

Children were shown how to divide a punnet of seedlings by gently separating the roots and were excited to put their spring crops in the ground, starting with tomatoes, marigold, parsley, and spinach.

Stephanie Alexander attended the working bee to meet the General Mills team and thank them for their ongoing and impactful support. She spoke to the students about their composting skills and got to see the hard work a dedicated group of volunteer parents are putting in to build a vibrant kitchen garden community. 

Further up the seaboard in Taree, on the mid-north coast of NSW, Coopernook Primary School is also putting their Kickstart Grant to good use. The small school community of 60 students has been badly impacted by recent floods and report they would not have been able to set up the program without the extra support.

“We are overwhelmingly grateful to have received the Kickstart Grant,” says the school’s Sustainability Coordinator, Melissa Allwood.

The kitchen garden program here at Coopernook PS is making a positive difference to our school every day. We have been able to use local produce to make delicious food, feed the masses at whole school and community events, reduce our waste, which we have begun to manage onsite in our compost bins, and learn all about growing tiny seeds.

Coopernook Public has used their Kickstart Grant to purchase compost bins, a new oven, and cooking equipment, which is already being put to good use. Melissa tells us the school and wider community is incredibly excited by the new developments, and students have taken to the program so enthusiastically they are already showing off their new skills at home.

Click here to hear from the recipients of last year’s Kickstart Grants, and the great community impact they have achieved.