Our Crowdfunding Groups
Crowdfund UC Davis thanks all of the donors who gave to this important project in October. This campaign has closed, but we are grateful for your support!
Watch the video above!
This student-led project, joining efforts with the Global Learning Hub in Global Affairs and the One Health Institute will create a community garden & recreational space in Knights Landing (Yolo County), California. The poverty rate there is 16.5%, which is well above the national average of 11.8%.
Knights Landing is a farming community where many residents are immigrants at high risk for chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and hypertension. It is also a food desert, and fresh produce is unaffordable to this population. This community also lacks basic amenities, such as recreational places for exercising, that would help improve residents' health.
Farmworkers are considered “essential workers,” risking their health to ensure that we have access to fruits and vegetables. Like many farmworkers all over the US, the residents of Knights Landing face numerous challenges to protect themselves and their family members from COVID-19 due to their working and living conditions. The rising numbers of reported COVID-19 cases make expanded testing at individual farm sites and labor camps urgently important. Contact tracing on farms where outbreaks are discovered and industry-provided benefits like health care, hazard pay, and safer housing accommodations are also needed.
A local church donated an unutilized plot of land that we will convert into a community garden and recreational space. Students will build an irrigation system so that the farm working community can grow their own fresh and healthy produce in an environmentally sustainable and affordable manner. Additionally, students will work on implementing health education, mental health workshops, and youth programming by creating effective educational materials aimed at different literacy levels, and in diverse languages.
Your gift to this project will go entirely towards purchasing supplies to make this Community Garden a reality. All students, faculty, staff, and local leaders are volunteers. Your donation will help tackle food insecurity and improve health outcomes for this underserved community.
Our community garden goals are:
Every bit goes a long way when developing a garden! A gift of $10 can help us buy 2-3 starter plants to get the planting season off to a great start.
Gardening starts from the bottom up. A donation of $25 allows us to purchase seed packets to plant for 1-2 growing seasons or get some compost to give the plants a boost.
All farmers need the proper tools to maintain and take care of their plants. A donation of $50 will fund the maintenance and replacement of garden tools, and provide transportation support and food for student volunteers who assist with the project.
A garden bed relies on the materials to construct it. A donation of $150 can fund the lumber necessary to create a high-quality, long-lasting garden bed, and purchase the soil and gravel necessary to lay the foundation for the garden.
The long-term success of this project depends on laying strong, long-lasting foundations so that the community can continue to harvest its rewards for years to come. A $500 donation invests in the future of this project, enabling us to purchase tools, materials, and plants over a period of several years, as well as provide materials for cooking and health education classes.
A donation at this level will have a huge beneficial impact, helping us improve health outcomes and tackle food insecurity in this community for years to come. A donation at this level will help provide fresh produce baskets to dozens of families in need, purchase tables and benches for recreational use, and implement healthy living workshops.
