The BUSD Gardening and Cooking Program engages all students in preschool through high school with hands-on instruction in science, language arts, environment, and nutrition education in 17 school gardens. As part of the 2020 Vision for Berkeley Children and Youth, the program is woven into student life to help close the achievement gap by ensuring their academic, physical, emotional, and social development. We're the only school district-wide garden-based learning program of this kind and we can only do it with community partnerships. Each year we face a gap in funding, where our estimates don't meet our actuals. This is mainly due to salary increases. This year we have a $10K gap that we need to fill through fundraising.
We are planning a big fundraiser called Dine Out on Thursday, February 18, 2016. Dine Out is when we partner with local businesses and restaurants in support of our schools, particularly the Gardening and Cooking Program. We do a big push inviting folks to come and dine out with us that whole day and night, and a percentage of sales from each participating restaurant goes to supporting the BUSD Gardening and Cooking Program, which we really need!
Dine Out is a win-win for local restaurants, the community, and the schools. This year, we are seeking ambassadors for each restaurant corner or location to help welcome folks; hand out postcards out about our program and the district (particularly BSEP); and sell raffle tickets to big prizes. Please contact Jezra Thompson at jezrathompson@berkeley.net or Mia Villenueva at miavillenueva@berkeley.net for more information.