Green Youth Farm’s crowdfunding campaign aims to create new jobs

Employment for five high school students next summer will be determined this autumn as the Lake County Forest Preserve District conducts a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs of hiring workers for its Green Youth Farm in North Chicago.

The 45-day effort to raise $9,350 through www.fundyourpark.org — a social-media fundraising site similar to kickstarter.com or indiegogo.com — began earlier this month and is scheduled to close on Oct. 24.

Through midday on Monday, Sept. 29, the campaign had raised $765 tax-deductible donations from 11 donors, and forest preserve environmental communications specialist Allison Frederick said the push is on to secure funding before the job applications are sought this winter.

“This came to be through an application process we filed with the National Recreation and Park Association,” Frederick said. “We’re one of 10 organizations within the United States that was chosen to be highlighted through the fundyourpark campaign.”


The amount being sought would cover the salaries of one crew leader and four team members from spring 2015 through next fall, working at the farm on the west side of the Greenbelt Forest Preserve.
Though the district has a Youth Conservation Corps that offers summertime jobs at preserves around the county, Frederick said the decade-old Green Youth Farm project is staffed by students from the immediate area.

“It is similar [to the YCC], but it does reach a different audience,” she said. “The Green Farm is a partnership we have with the Chicago Botanic Garden, so it’s part of a wider network with three other green farms.

“Essentially, they’re sustainable-agriculture programs that offer education and paid, job-training experience for students. They are local students, if not from North Chicago specifically.”

Nan Buckardt, director of environmental education and public affairs for the forest preserves, said in a statement calling for support that the program delivers not only employment but also farm produce for what the Chicago Botanic Garden defines as food-insecure communities.

“Each summer, teens work at the Green Youth Farm to grow organic produce while learning about organic gardening skills, leadership, team building and real-world job training,” Buckardt said. “The program also reaches into the community by getting nutritious food to families who need it most, through our relationship with woman, infant and children centers, and through the weekly farm stand hosted at Greenbelt Forest Preserve.”

A link to the National Recreation and Park Association’s crowdfunding site is available through the forest preserve’s website, www.lcfpd.org, or it can be linked directly at www.fundyourpark.org/campaign/detail/3468.