During the month of December, VIP Fellow Kelly Mercer recruited over 50 volunteers to run the Homeless Garden Project’s holiday store. The holiday store, located in middle of downtown Santa Cruz, featured a range of products made by Homeless Garden Project volunteers and trainees from herbs, flowers, and other materials grown on the HGP farm. Some of these items included soaps, lavender bath salts, chocolates, candles, wreaths, jams and more! HGP also enlisted the help of local artists to sell jewelry, paintings & prints, as well as other home and garden items.
Over the span of 5 weeks, volunteers clocked over 1,000 hours and helped the Homeless Garden Project raise over $105,000 in sales! This was Kelly second year working on this project as a VIP member. The staggering success and growth of this multifaceted project is not only a testament to Kelly’s hard work and dedication to HGP, but also shows the significant impact Americorps VIP has on local human services agencies.
Way to go, Kelly and the Homeless Garden Project!
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| Inside the HGP Holiday Store |
Thanks to all the volunteers throughout Santa Cruz that made our holiday store such a success! Can't wait until next year!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Kelly and Volunteers! What an amazing impact you had on HGP. Your work and dedication is inspirational!!!
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