Baltimore City budget action to cause loss of $550,000 in matching grants!!

Plants Nouveau - Baltimore Master Gardeners

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Dear Friend,

I am writing to you on behalf of the University of Maryland Extension (UME)-Baltimore City.

Please forward this to anyone you think can help.

Baltimore City has announced that they will eliminate funding for this valuable resource, thereby losing State and Federal matching funds in excess of $550,000!

Baltimore City provides UME-Baltimore City with 30% of its operating cost, about $235,000. The remainder of the $800,000 annual budget comes from the State (48%) and Federal governments (23%). If the City ceases to fund the Extension so will the State and Federal Government.

Please contact the Mayor and City Council today and ask them not to cut this program.

Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) – assists limited income families, pregnant teens and youth by providing free, interactive and culturally-appropriate nutrition workshops. Every $1.00 invested in EFNEP reduces future healthcare cost by $10.64 for Baltimore City. Last year 2,311 adults and youth were reached and 94% of participants now show positive change in nutrition practices.

Plants Nouveau - Baltimore Master Gardeners Financial Management Program – assists community members to increase their budgeting, spending, saving and eviction prevention skills. Last year 731 residents were trained.

Urban Agriculture Program – oversees the all-volunteer Master Gardener program. For the past 30 years, the University of Maryland-trained Baltimore Master Gardeners have been educating citizens about sustainable, environmentally sound horticultural practices. The Baltimore Master Gardeners program has 157 all volunteer members who provided 5,500 volunteer hours to the citizens of Baltimore last year, reaching 2,000 city residents.

Some of the Master Gardener volunteer activities include:

- plant and care for the City Hall vegetable garden that last year produced hundreds of pounds of fresh vegetables for the homeless,

- support the Great Kid’s Farm in Catonsville and Lake Clifton hoop houses, teaching Baltimore School children horticulture and entrepreneurial skills,

- maintain City Parks, such as Cylburn Arboretum and Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory,

- establish new, and work in more than 40 vegetable and ornamental community gardens, bringing communities together,

- give lectures in Public Libraries and other venues, provide Grow It Eat It training, helping citizens grow their own food,

- hold plant clinics at Farmers’ markets (in 2009: 23 clinics assisted more than 1,100 citizens),

- teach citizens how to maintain a healthy landscape without harming the Chesapeake Bay through the Bay Wise program.

Plants Nouveau - Baltimore Master Gardeners Please forward this email to the Mayor & City Council and tell them that you support the University of MD Extension Office and want these programs to continue.

If we don’t act immediately the office will close on 7/1/10 and these programs will be eliminated!

Thank you for your help.

Ursula Scheffel
Past President, Baltimore City Master Gardeners

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