After 15 years of close collaboration to bring food security to vulnerable populations, The Garden Project of Southwest Colorado and Manna, a soup kitchen in Durango, have merged.
Nora Stafford, board president of The Garden Project who also serves on the Manna board, said the Manna Board of Directors voted June 25 to accept the merger with The Garden Project.
The Garden Project, Stafford said, will be wrapped into Manna’s broader mission to provide food security, education and services to Southwest Colorado.
“By merging, we’re going to be stronger and have a larger impact,” she said.
The Garden Project was founded in 1998 by then-Fort Lewis College student Shari Fitzgerald – at the time, it was called Greens and Things. But the mission was the same: promoting gardens to help feed people in need.
Over the years, The Garden Project expanded to offer programs at more than 20 community gardens in the region, as well as numerous educational programs, such as the Junior Master Gardener class for second grade students and the Dirt Club after-school program.
But in recent years, funding and grants have been harder to come by, Stafford said, hamstringing what the nonprofit has been able to offer to the community and making its future uncertain.
“The sustainability was not what we were envisioning,” she said.
So, The Garden Project earlier this year started looking for potential organizations to merge with, Stafford said. And Manna, which has worked with the group since 2005, appeared as the most logical fit.
“They really seemed like the best partner for us,” Stafford said.
Fitzgerald, in a prepared statement, said she supports the merger.
“My greatest dream was that one day I would wake up and hear something great about The Garden Project,” she said.
With the merger, not much will be lost for those familiar with The Garden Project, Stafford said.
The Garden Project had only two full-time staff members: an executive director and a garden manager who oversaw the community gardens. The latter position will be transferred to Manna, a partnership long in place. The Garden Project has long relied on volunteer crews from AmeriCorps.
For years, The Garden Project helped maintain the Manna garden. In 2018, for instance, the program served nearly 1,000 people and distributed 7,600 pounds of food, with the garden itself producing about 2,420 pounds of produce.
Other offerings, such as the Junior Master Gardener class and after-school child care programs are expected to continue, though they were canceled this year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Community spaces The Garden Project will no longer oversee, such as the Ohana Kuleana Community Garden and the garden at Miller Middle School, have been transferred to new management.
But others, like the garden at Needham Elementary School, will continue under Manna’s new leadership.
“We wanted to continue our gardening education in the community, but we needed more resources to carry out some of our project,” Stafford said.
Ann Morse, executive director of Manna, said with so many nonprofits in Durango, it’s harder every year to get grants and financial support, especially if similar groups are competing for the same funding.
Morse pointed to the recent merger of Durango Nature Studies and the San Juan Mountains Association, which brought the two longstanding nonprofits known for connecting people with the outdoors together.
“By merging, you cut so many administrative costs, and build programs that are more solid,” she said. “And you’re more transparent in asking for funders.”
Manna is most publicly known for its outreach and services provided to the homeless community in Durango, Morse said, but the nonprofit’s broader vision is to provide food security and services to anyone in need in the region.
The merger with The Garden Project, she said, fits into Manna’s goal to help educate people about food security and provide resources for those in need to gain self-sufficiency.
“I feel like this merger will help people understand we provide so many services, and we’re open to anyone in the community,” Morse said.
Just recently, the two groups collaborated to build a three-season greenhouse to extend the growing season in the temperamental Southwest Colorado climate, which The Garden Project had already planned to oversee.
Darrin Parmenter, director of the La Plata County Extension Office, who has worked with the two organizations for years, said the merger is a strategic move during tough times, which will ultimately better serve the community.
“It only makes sense, especially when times are tough, to reduce the number of nonprofits if you can merge and be stronger,” he said. “And that connection is there (between Manna and The Garden Project).”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
