Statements

Mission

The mission of the BELL Garden is to provide a space where people of all ages and abilities can garden, learn and serve together. We are deeply committed to building community through education, volunteerism, and a shared experience of providing fresh produce to those in need.

Background

Founded in 2012, BELL Garden is a hybrid school and community garden organization located on the Bellevue Middle School Campus in Nashville, TN. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, BELL Garden is focused on building healthier and deeper connected communities through garden- based service, education, volunteerism, and food distribution to those in need. The mission of the BELL Garden is to provide a space where people of all ages and abilities can garden, learn, and serve together. We are deeply committed to building community through education, volunteerism, and a shared experience of providing fresh produce to those in need. America has a shortage of gardeners and farmers making up just 1.3% of the nation's labor force. As a result, few Americans and their children grow their food and know how it is grown or where it comes from. With more gardeners, we will have less food insecurity, fewer hungry people, more healthful eating, and fewer urban "food deserts." In addition, gardening is a natural antidepressant and is a source of fulfillment, relaxation, and creativity. Unfortunately, few have access to these resources outside of the school environment. BELL Garden is the only provider in the Bellevue area of garden-based and outdoor education programs (i.e., health, science, and sustainability) for local middle and high school groups, social and work skills programs for adults and youth with disabilities, education on healthy eating options, urban gardening education, zero waste, garden-to-table, and food donation programs.

Impact

2022 accomplishments:

BELL donated over 3663 pounds of produce to local food banks and nonprofits serving those in need;
Created new volunteer and meaningful work-based skills learning programs for youth and adults with disabilities;
Provided year-round volunteer opportunities for all abilities;
Created and provided year-round garden, skill and wellness based educational classes;
Provided a "Farm Stand" to sell produce to individuals and families in the community;
Offered indoor and outdoor classroom learning for public, private, and homeschooled students;
Provide over 30 raised beds, 10 wheelchair and "all ability" beds, and 6,000 sq feet of field rows for student and community gardeners;
Utilized over 10, 551 hours of volunteer service.

2023 accomplishments and goals in progress:

Developed a new curriculum for local middle, high school and homeschool students;
Created an "international garden" to serve the diverse population and tastes in Bellevue;
Built a new hoop house to increase plant production and education opportunities for students and the community;
Added 20 new field rows to increase production, service, and education opportunities;
Created new curriculums for local students;
Increased volunteer hours by 225%

Needs

FIVE MOST PRESSING NEEDS FOR BELL GARDEN:

Funding to be able to have paid staff - 100% volunteer staff is not sustainable.
Funding to be able to improve our campus - new deck, new gazebo, new outdoor classrooms, repair our old hoophouse.
Qualified volunteers to take leadership positions - currently we have a few volunteers taking care of many areas
Qualified volunteers to work on items listed in #2 - so much of our needs currently involve construction and building and all built items on our campus need to be maintained.
Qualified grant writer(s) to enable us to have a continual flow of grant requests = grant awarded!

CEO Statement

BELL Garden is important to Bellevue and the surrounding area. We have the unique situation of being both a school and community garden, residing on one acre of a Metro School property behind Bellevue Middle School and also being a separate 501c3 organization. This allows us to work both with students and parents of Bellevue Middle School as well as working with area individuals, businesses, schools and churches that all share a common goal with us of building healthier and deeper connected communities through garden based service, education, volunteerism, and food distribution to those in need. We also have the distinction of being one of the few successful school and community gardens in the area, just celebrating our 11th year in operation.

Not only do we raise produce for area food banks - almost 4000 pounds in 2022 - we also educate through weekly classes, training volunteers and encouraging inclusivity and camaraderie with different ages, cultures and capabilities.

On a personal level I was lucky to find BELL Garden soon after my retirement. Many of the skills that were needed at BELL I happened to have - organizational, marketing, social media, website, gardening, retail, catering or had connections to get (husband) general maintenance and building. It is said when you get older, you need to keep learning, being active and surround yourself with people of all backgrounds and ages. BELL Garden ticks off all of these boxes for me. My work at BELL uses all of the skills I already had - although I am constantly having to learn more to keep up with changes - and has enabled me to get to know a huge family of volunteers who I learn from every day.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Food, Agriculture & Nutrition  - Food, Agriculture & Nutrition NEC
Secondary Category:	Food, Agriculture & Nutrition  - Food, Agriculture & Nutrition NEC
Tertiary Category:	Environment  - Environmental Education

Areas Served

BELL Garden serves Bellevue Middle School and other schools in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools system, and the Bellevue community at-large as well as nearby areas in Cheatham and Williamson Counties.

TN - Davidson

TN - Williamson

TN - Cheatham