Denver Urban Gardens

A nonprofit organization

As metro Denver continues to expand, becoming hotter and more susceptible to extreme climate events, we need gardens and food forests more than ever. In addition to producing healthy, local food, gardens and food forests provide habitats for diverse plants and animals, both above and below ground. They contribute to cleaner air, lower urban temperatures, and reduced risk of extreme climate events. 

Everyone should have access to grow their own healthy, nutritious food (and help make our communities healthier and greener at the same time!), and that’s why we created our signature food access program, Grow a Garden, more than 25 years ago. Our goal is to raise $45,000, enough to cover the cost of producing and distributing 750 Grow a Garden kits in 2024. These kits contain seeds, seedlings, and a multilingual plant care guide to help newbies and veterans alike grow food-producing plants. This year, DUG hopes to distribute 2,000 of these kits throughout the metro area!

Last summer, more than 70 percent of kits went to households earning less than $50,000 per year, and more than half of the households who received a kit indicated some degree of food insecurity.

Your generous gift allows DUG to continue offering Grow a Garden kits at little or no cost to the people who need them most.

While it's cold and wintry now, our team is busy preparing for the next growing season, and we must reach our goal to give us the head-start we need to offer this vital program. Thanks for helping to support a growing movement of people who recognize that urban gardens and food forests are one solution to many of our communities' most critical issues!

Mission

To provide access, skills, and resources for people to grow healthy food in community and regenerate urban green spaces

Background Statement

At DUG, our vision is a sustainable urban future where people are deeply and directly connected to the earth, each other, and the food they eat.

Our roots go back to Denver's north side, when Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) was established in 1985 to support Denver residents in creating sustainable, food-producing neighborhood community gardens. Over the past 35+ years, our network of community gardens has expanded to 200 gardens in six metro Denver counties as we have championed the power of plants, the people who grow them, and the communities they nourish.

Our programs provide access, skills, and resources to help people grow food in community. We offer youth programming, skill-building workshops for adults, community-centered events, volunteer garden workdays, and much more.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Denver Urban Gardens

other names

DUG

Year Established

1985

Tax id (EIN)

74-2374848

Category

Food, Agriculture & Nutrition

Organization Size

Large Organization

Address

1031 33rd Street Suite 100
Denver, CO 80205

Service areas

Denver County, CO, US

Phone

303-292-9900

Email

dirt@dug.org

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