To receive a listing of the 2003 grant recipients, click here:

www.kidsgardening.com/grants/DBG03.asp

The application for the 2004 Grant Program will be available on the website in January 2004. 

This fall, 450 schools across the U.S. will receive a unique grant from the Mailorder Gardening Association (MGA), Elkridge, MD, entitled Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs.  The grant program is sponsored in cooperation with the Dutch Bulb Exporters Association, the North American Flowerbulb Wholesalers Association (NAFWA) and the International Flower Bulb Centre in Holland.

The Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs program was developed to help youth of all ages learn the benefits of gardening.  The 450 schools receiving the grant were selected from over 1500 eligible applicants nationwide.  The grant packages include 200 assorted Dutch flower bulbs (provided free of charge) which will be planted on the school premises, along with planting instructions and suggested classroom activities involving the study of bulbs.

The program sponsors believe gardening offers children a variety of benefits, many of which warrant this activity in the school curriculum.  "The more than 100,000 youth across the U.S. who are participating in the grant program this school year are learning how gardening can have a positive effect on their mental outlook, their physical well being and their environment," said Camille Cimino, Executive Director for the MGA.  "The letters and photographs we receive from the grant recipients each year has proven that including gardening in the classroom curriculum has made learning such subjects as math, science, history and even cooking lots more fun.  It is also fascinating to see how creative the teachers, who coordinate the grant programs, become by including the study of bulbs in their classroom activities throughout the school year." 

The 2003-2004 Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs grant program is in its ninth consecutive year.  The National Gardening Association (NGA), South Burlington, VT,  administers the grant program for the sponsoring organizations. 

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For more information about the Mailorder Gardening Association or the Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs grant program, please contact MGA Executive Director, Camille Cimino, via e-mail at info@mailordergardening.com.