We are so grateful for the year we’ve had in community, building toward lasting land security organizing and staying committed to supporting our neighbors through exceptionally challenging times. Before we take some time to rest for winter, we are calling on our supporters (like you!) to help us with our annual end of year campaign.
Last week, we launched our fundraiser with hopes of crowd funding $15,000 to purchase the last lot in our physical community space on Arlington Street in West Kensington. As of today we’re excited to report we are about 30% toward our goal!
We have successfully made contact with the landowner and are working toward being able to purchase the lot in the immediate future. We need help from the public to make sure we can pay it in full and cover the many fees associated with the transaction.
Over the years, we have slowly gained ownership of many of the lots on which our garden was founded in 2012. Looking at the image above, you can see our space is situated on a wide variety of land ownership. We became a nonprofit in 2021 in an effort to be able to make these purchases. We’ve raised money through grants and individual donors to be able to buy lots from private owners and advocated through campaigns to ensure the space we’ve built will remain as it is for generations to come. Due to the US Bank Lien deal, we received several lots that are in legal limbo, but we will have titles in our name soon. For us, this means permanent security from development of the once vacant parcels we currently use for community gatherings, plant connections, and neighborhood recreation.
You can learn more and share the campaign through our Chuffed page. This includes the history of the space and its current uses.
https://chuffed.org/project/151604-help-us-secure-the-last-parcels-of-the-garden
We have a lot of exciting things happening to support the fundraiser, so stay tuned! Part of these announcements will feature an end-of-year happy hour where we will host an in-person raffle and sell merch created by some of our core members.
If you have items like art prints, services, zines, etc. you’d be interested in donating in support fill out this form to run a raffle for us digitally or in person! Click here to enter an item and contact Caro-if you have questions carotorrestoledo@gmail.com
Our campaign will run from October until the end of 2025 and we hope you will join us in sharing the call for support and donating! You can find a shareable flyer at the end of this blog post.
THANK YOU!
Cesar Andreú Iglesias Community Garden 