States
Illinois Charitable Organizations
Charitable Organizations in Illinois to connect with and donate fresh garden produce and saved seeds:
El Paseo Community Garden - fosters community and wellness for the Pilsen community of Chicago through stewardship, educational programming, and community gardening. The garden is a 1-acre converted brownfield site that is led and maintained by volunteers. The garden serves as a public green space for the neighborhood. It includes a native prairie, permaculture food forest, an apiary, raised beds (including ADA accessible beds), and a small farm (ten 50 ft rows) of row crops. Their goal is to Empower through Nature. Visitors and residents of the neighborhood are encouraged to harvest from the edible food forest and the “free food beds” that border the public path through the garden.
The GardenWorks Project - works to relieve hunger in Chicago's west suburbs by educating and empowering food insecure families to grow food for themselves. They provide families facing food insecurity with the supplies and education needed to grow food for themselves as a nutritional supplement and promote organic food production in the home and community garden setting by offering group education classes and other resources.
Kirkland, IL
DeKalb County Community Gardens - runs several programs with the goal of empowering local residents to choose healthy and sustainable foods through community education. Initiatives include a food pantry supplemented with fresh produce grown at their community garden, horticultural, agricultural, and life-skill training to adults with developmental disabilities, and classes in cooking, food preservation, and gardening to community members.
Round Lake, IL
The Round Lake Area Garden Club - Seed Library and Food Forest is dedicated to increasing access to information, education and resources related to growing plants that support the local food system and the environment. They are a program of the Round Lake Area Public Library and strive to decrease the barriers to entry of anyone interested in growing food for themselves or for their community. Their efforts reach hundreds of recipients each year. By distributing seeds and plants, they help to support community gardens, food pantry gardens, school gardens, individual home growers and BIPOC micro farmers - all important parts of the local food system. They also maintain a Community Garden and Food Forest that is accessible to anyone in the community.
