Garden to Table School Nutrition and Cooking Program

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Executive Summary

Garden to Table School Nutrition and Cooking Program is a nonprofit that brings school gardens and hands-on cooking classes to students at low-income schools. Students grow vegetables, taste new foods, visit local farms and cook simple, healthy recipes, and take recipes and ingredient kits home to cook with their families.

Many children eat few fruits and vegetables and have never seen how food grows. Diet-related health problems begin early, and families may not have the time or money to cook from scratch. A garden and a cooking class built into the school day can change how children feel about real food.

With this grant we will serve about 400 students in Year 1 at 4 schools. We are not a school meal provider and we do not give dietary advice to individual students. We promise safe, fun learning, careful allergy management and honest reporting.

Our Year 1 budget is about $176,500, growing to about $251,000 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 5 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Program Manager and two part-time garden educators) and 9 by Year 5.

We are asking the Growing Healthy Kids Foundation for $55,000 for the Program Manager and garden and cooking class supplies. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Garden to Table School Nutrition and Cooking Program is a nonprofit organization in California. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. Every child should know where food comes from, how to cook it and how good it can taste.

What we do.
- Build and tend school gardens with students at partner schools.
- Teach hands-on cooking classes using food students grow and local produce.
- Offer taste tests and farm visits that introduce new foods.
- Train teachers and cafeteria staff in garden and cooking activities.
- Send recipes and ingredient kits home so families cook together.
- Host family cooking nights and a harvest festival.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We are not a school meal provider and we do not give medical or dietary advice for individual students. We follow each school's allergy and food safety rules. We do not promise any health result. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of teachers, a farmer and a chef began starting a garden at one elementary school. Students who never ate vegetables asked for more. We kept simple records of who took part and what the students said. This proposal asks for support to move from a single school garden to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Many children eat few fruits and vegetables and have never seen how food grows, and diet-related health problems begin early.

Cost. Fresh food costs more than processed food, and many families cannot afford the ingredients for a home-cooked meal.

Access. Many schools lack a garden, a teaching kitchen or the staff time to teach students about food.

Safety and trust. Schools want to know that activities are safe, allergies are managed and the program fits the school day.

Missed benefits. Children who never learn to cook and enjoy real food may develop habits that last a lifetime.

What we hear.
- A fourth grader says carrots taste different when you pull them out of the ground.
- A teacher says her students are calmer in the garden.
- A cafeteria manager says kids eat more of the salad when they have grown it.
- A mother says her son now cooks dinner on Fridays.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that growing, cooking and tasting real food can change what children eat and how they feel about it.

Products & Services

Garden to Table School Nutrition and Cooking Program gives students at low-income schools a safe, welcoming place to grow, cook and enjoy healthy food.

How the program works.
1. Schools. We partner with four schools that give us garden space and class time.
2. Gardens. Students and teachers build raised beds and plant seasonal vegetables and herbs.
3. Cooking classes. Garden educators lead hands-on classes where students prepare simple, healthy recipes.
4. Tasting. Every class includes a tasting so students can try something new without pressure.
5. Farm visits. Classes visit local farms and markets to see where food comes from.
6. Home connection. Students bring home recipes and ingredient kits to cook with family.
7. Family nights. Families come to a cooking night and a harvest festival.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our garden educators are trained in gardening, cooking and working with children, pass a background check, complete our training and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. The program is free to schools and families. We welcome every student, and we adapt activities for allergies, abilities and cultures.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Students at partner schools in low-income neighborhoods, and their families. Every student in a partner school class may take part, and priority goes to schools where most students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our first school garden, every class asked to come back and waiting lists formed at neighboring schools. Principals told us that many more schools want a program than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 400 participants at 4 schools. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 1000.

Where participants come from.
- Principals, teachers and wellness coordinators.
- School districts and parent groups.
- Local farmers and chefs.
- Families who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families gain skills and healthier habits. Schools gain a hands-on learning program. Farmers gain a connection to the next generation of eaters.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a child holding a vegetable she grew. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. School meal programs. Feed children and are limited by budgets and rules. We add education.

2. Science and health classes. Teach concepts and have little time for hands-on work. We bring activities into the school day.

3. Community gardens. Valuable and not located at schools. We bring gardens to schools.

4. Cooking camps. Excellent and costly. We offer a free option.

5. Nutrition handouts. Cheap and rarely change habits.

What makes us different.
- Free to schools and families.
- Hands-on gardens and cooking in the school day.
- Tasting without pressure.
- Connections to local farms.
- Recipes and kits that go home.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with principals, school district staff, farmers and other nutrition education programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Principals and teachers. We will present at staff meetings and offer a demonstration class.
- School districts and wellness councils. We will share outcomes and partner schools.
- Parent groups. We will hold family cooking nights.
- Farmers and chefs. We will invite them to volunteer and host visits.
- Word of mouth. Schools and families tell each other.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit garden educators and volunteers through master gardener groups, culinary schools and farms.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, classes taught, new foods tried and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Build the first school gardens and train teachers.
- Months 4 to 10: Teach garden and cooking classes through the school year and hold family nights.
- Months 11 and 12: Hold a harvest festival, survey students and teachers, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Classes are held in school gardens, classrooms and cafeterias, provided at no cost.

Safety and privacy.
- Educators follow each school's allergy and food safety rules, wash hands and tools and use child-safe equipment.
- At least two adults are present with every group.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $12,000 of equipment once at the start: raised beds, soil and garden tools for four schools ($6,000), portable cooking carts and kitchen equipment ($4,000), tool storage and a shared cart ($2,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Manager, paid $42,000 a year, coordinates schools and training. Two part-time garden educators, each paid $20,000 a year, teach classes. We add an educator as we add schools.

Management & Organization

Marcus Hale, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a chef who taught children to cook and saw how much they loved it. I will complete the training we require of our educators so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Program Manager coordinates schools and training, and part-time garden educators teach classes. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a chef, a school principal, a farmer, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney, a parent and a registered dietitian. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A school district wellness coordinator, a master gardener and a pediatric nurse give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $48,000 a year; program Manager, paid $42,000 a year; garden Educator (part-time), paid $20,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 400 participants at 4 schools.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 550 participants at 5 schools.
- Year 3: About 700 participants at 6 schools.
- Year 4: About 850 participants at 7 schools.
- Year 5: About 1000 participants at 8 schools.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 51 percent of our budget, down from about 66 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $55,000 from the Growing Healthy Kids Foundation for the Program Manager and garden and cooking class supplies, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Manager salary, $42,000.
- Supplies: Garden materials and cooking class ingredients, $13,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 47% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $176,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $7,100 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $116,500; school District Wellness Funding $30,000; health System and Business Partners $22,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $48,000; program Manager $42,000; garden Educator (part-time) $20,000; garden Materials and Seeds about $8,000; cooking Class Ingredients about $10,000; teacher Training about $3,000; family Events about $4,000; transportation to Farms about $4,000; administration and Insurance about $8,000; about $4,400 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $19,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $6,000 for raised beds, soil and garden tools for four schools; $4,000 for portable cooking carts and kitchen equipment; $2,000 for tool storage and a shared cart; $2,000 for attorney review of the school agreement, allergy policy and privacy policy; $1,500 for banners, flyers and a simple website; $1,500 for background checks and educator training; $2,000 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($19,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $41,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $61,000. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $57,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a local grocer, $63,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $176,500 in Year 1 to about $251,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $116,500, $124,000, $111,000, $119,000 and $127,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: school District Wellness Funding from $30,000 to $54,000; health System and Business Partners from $22,000 to $46,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $7,100 in Year 1, about $8,500 in Year 2, about $9,200 in Year 3, about $10,900 in Year 4 and about $12,300 in Year 5. We grow from 4 schools to 8 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $53,400, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $7,060 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per student. In Year 1, our total costs are about $424 per student served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more student served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $239 per student.

After the grant. School district wellness funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free school nutrition option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of students and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $116,500 in Year 1, growing to $127,000 in Year 5.
- School District Wellness Funding: $30,000 in Year 1, growing to $54,000 in Year 5.
- Health System and Business Partners: $22,000 in Year 1, growing to $46,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $8,000 in Year 1, growing to $24,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $48,000; program Manager $42,000; garden Educator (part-time) $20,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: garden Materials and Seeds $8,000; cooking Class Ingredients $10,000; teacher Training $3,000; family Events $4,000; transportation to Farms $4,000; administration and Insurance $8,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $12,000 at the start, then $2,000 to $3,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $19,000, paid once from $63,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 400 in Year 1, growing to about 1000 in Year 5. Sites: 4 in Year 1, growing to 8 by Year 5. Classes run through the school year, with gardens planted in spring and fall.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs