Gardening With Purpose

Gardening With Purpose connects the joy of growing with the simple act of giving—helping
provide fresh, healthy food to neighbors in need. Across Michigan, food pantries and
community organizations welcome fresh produce. You don’t need a large garden to participate.
Whether you grow a few herbs on a patio, tend a backyard vegetable plot, or simply have extra
produce to share, you can make a meaningful difference.
How You Can Help:
*Grow what you love.
*Find a local pantry, food bank or soup kitchen.
*Drop off your extra produce.
*Bring produce to club meetings and have a volunteer make a pantry delivery.
*Visit local farms and farmers markets to facilitate donations of surplus produce.
*Invite community gardens to join our initiative and be included in tracking produce
donations in Michigan for those in need.
*Organize a non-perishable food drive – this will allow all club members to contribute.
Report your donations!
SMALL CONTRIBUTIONS ADD UP—one garden, one harvest, one donation at a time. In 2024,
Michigan Garden Clubs contributed more than 74,000 pounds of fresh produce to the National
Garden Clubs’ Plant America – Feed America initiative—an impressive 67% of the total recorded
nationwide. In recognition of this outstanding achievement, Michigan Garden Clubs received
the prestigious National Garden Clubs Award of Excellence.
Together, we can reduce food waste, support our communities, and ensure that more people
have access to fresh, nourishing food.
Each Michigan Garden Club District has a representative who can help your club with making
and reporting your donations.
Find your rep on our MGC Gardening with Purpose District Rep List.

One hour Master Gardener Educational Credit is available by watching the meeting video located in the MGC Member Meeting Library. All of the materials presented in the Meeting are available there as well.

Inspiration: “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.” Tanzanian Proverb