SEND PLANTLANTA OUT WEST: Help us raise $6,000 to put Georgia school garden work on the national stage and bring new learning home.

PlantLanta is heading out west to California in July, and we need our community’s help getting there.

PlantLanta connects urban culture, sustainability, and youth education through school gardens, composting, food systems, and hands-on environmental programming. Our work primarily serves Title I school communities across metro Atlanta, helping young people see that growing food, caring for the environment, and strengthening their communities belong to them, too.

This July, the PlantLanta team has two major opportunities to learn, teach, and represent Georgia’s school garden community in California:

NATIONAL CHILDREN & YOUTH GARDEN SYMPOSIUM
American Horticulture Society
Pasadena, California

PlantLanta has been accepted to present two sessions at the 2026 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium:

• From Lunch Trash to Living Soil: Using Composting to Launch Youth Gardening (presented by Jeannie Rodriguez, Program & Outreach Manager)
• From One-Day Events to Year-Long Impact: Rethinking Youth Gardening Models (presented by Cam Anderson, Founder and Director of Community Engagement)

This is more than conference attendance. PlantLanta is contributing to a national conversation about how schools can use gardening, composting, sustainability, and culturally relevant education to create deeper and longer-lasting student impact.

EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD SUMMER TRAINING
Berkeley, California

Later in July, Cam plans to attend the Edible Schoolyard Summer Training in Berkeley. This learning opportunity directly connects to PlantLanta’s future work in school gardens, nutrition education, food systems, and year-round experiential learning.

The knowledge and relationships built during these trips will return to Georgia through PlantLanta’s school partnerships, garden installations, student programming, educator resources, and future program design.

WHERE THE $6,000 WILL GO:

• Presenter/trainings registrations
• Round-trip flights
• Lodging
• Local transportation
• Meals, incidentals and travel needs

We are a grassroots nonprofit which means that every dollar we spend comes directly from supporters like you, who believe in our mission and vision. Unlike larger organizations that have million+ dollar budgets, we are currently operating and hosting programs with a very small organizational budget (less than $15,000.)

Nevertheless, PlantLanta is commiting to investing alongside our supporters in the amount of $750. Funds raised through this campaign will help reimburse that expense and cover the remaining travel costs.

WAYS TO SUPPORT

You can help PlantLanta by:

• Making a donation at any level
• Sponsoring a major travel expense
• Sharing this campaign with your community
• Connecting us with a business or corporate sponsor
• Asking your employer whether your gift can be matched

Every donation helps PlantLanta carry metro Atlanta’s school garden work into national spaces and bring the learning back to the students, educators, and communities we serve.

Help us send PlantLanta out west and bring the knowledge home!

ABOUT PLANTLANTA:

PlantLanta is a community-rooted nonprofit growing better leaders through agri(culture), sustainability, creativity, and hands-on learning.

We work alongside Metro Atlanta schools, specifically in Title I communities, to create immersive experiences for students that connect environmental stewardship, STEAM-based education, health & wellness, and culture.

Our work is grounded in one belief:

Young people deserve the tools, trust, and space to lead.

PlantLanta programs look like:

building and revitalizing school gardens
auditing school lunch food waste
creating school composting systems
delivering hands-on, STEAM-based workshops from PlantLanta Educators (community members with specialized skills)
hosting an annual community celebration - the Future Ready Festival!

#GrowingBetterLeaders
www.plantlanta.org
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Send PlantLanta Out West!

Two Opportunities. One Big Impact.