The Boys and Girls Club of the Rosebud Reservation is the recipient of a farm-to-school grant program. Among other things, it offers fresh produce to attendees all year.
The Patrick Leahy Grant Program is run through the US Department of Agriculture, and in total $14 million has been distributed to schools and communities nationwide.
The Rosebud Boys and Girls Club received just shy of $50,000.
Rachel Kocak is the group’s executive director.
“This grant will cover fencing, high tunnels, and no-till gardens, so this means outdoors, in the dirt growing for up to 10 months of the year for the kids of the Boys and Girls Club," Kocak said. "It would serve two of our site locations, so that would reach approximately 80 kids.”
Kocak wants the group to experience food independence.
“The goal is a love of growing and eating locally grown food," Kocak said. "That’s the vision – having that joy of self-sufficiency, of feeling the accomplishment of working hard, pulling food out of the ground, and the joy of eating it. Out here in Rosebud, food insecurity is a major issue. For most kids, this kind of fresh garden food is just not accessible.”
While favorites like peas and carrots are on the menu, Kocak said they hope to incorporate traditional diet in the garden.
“The more diverse we can grow, the better, and we’re hoping to incorporate some of the local, ancestral foods that would have been part of the diet," Kocak said. "So, perennials like chokecherries and juneberries and those things is part of the landscape as well.”
Any excess crops will be donated to families in need in the Rosebud community.
The Rapid City Area School district also received a grant and seeks to connect local education with agricultural providers.