For years, children participating in the Seward Youth Peace Garden have gathered on Fridays outside the Birchwood Café, 3311 E. 25th St., to sell the produce they’ve grown. This year, following the financial collapse of Seward Neighborhood Group (SNG), which had supported the garden through grants in the past, funding for the program is uncertain.

In response, the Birchwood will host a bake-sale fundraiser on April 19, in coordination with the Seward Co-op Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Fair (see calendar item, page 21), announced café owner Tracy Singleton. The event had just been announced by press time; visit the Birchwood website, www.birchwoodcafe.com, prior to the event for more information.

Singleton said she will also host a seed and seedling sale at the café (with the seeds and young plants provided by Mother Earth Gardens at cost), and there will be a general collection jar at the café for the popular program.

Although it was previously thought that Peace Garden funding still existed through a multi-year McKnight Foundation grant, SNG Treasurer Dianne Anders reported at the March SNG board meeting that the grant had expired, and that there was “no funding at the moment for the Peace Garden.”

last revised: April 24, 2008

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