2019 Annual Report

Letter from the DIrector

This Annual Report will be my last as I will be retiring from City Sprouts at the end of December 2019 and will be passing this ‘growing’ organization to our new ED, Katie Kresha.

My tenure at City Sprouts has been humbling, enlivening, challenging and fulfilling. 2020 will prove to be an exciting year as Katie joins the team and the 25th anniversary of the founding of City Sprouts is celebrated. I am sure that the staff and board will be filled with enthusiasm, vigor, and creativity. Thank you all for your many years of support and your gifts of time, talent and treasure. I have been privileged to spend these last seven years working with great colleagues, board members, community advocates, and dedicated donors.

Gardeners don’t grow old, they just spade away.

Thank you!

Roxanne Willams Draper
Executive Director 2012 - 2019

Click on each image to learn more about the highlight!

3 south interns

Urban
Farming Internship

16 4000+

Interns

Weeks

Paid hours

Learn more

2019 Highlights

PROGRAMS BY THE NUMBERS

summer urban farming internship

city sprouts north interns

At City Sprouts North and our Decatur Urban Farm, we had the pleasure of working with 13 interns who shared our passion for growing, cooking and preserving delicious local food. Together they helped manage the ¼ acre Decatur Farm, harvest produce for a weekly farm stand and CSA program, assist in educating youngsters in the Little Sprouts program, and formed a tight-knit group of future leaders dedicated to improving the environment, their communities and themselves!

city sprouts South interns

This year we had 3 interns at City Sprouts South. The interns helped to build our hugelkulture beds, lead volunteers in garden tasks, facilitate our garden classes for kids, maintain our gardens, prepare and deliver our weekly CSA, and harvest and process culinary and medicinal herbs. 2 Interns, Juan and Mia, stayed on for an extended internship throughout the month of September and helped us maintain our late season gardens, put the garden to bed, and save seeds.

Program Features

Meet our interns

Find out more about each intern by hovering on their images below.

Alauna

Alauna loved learning and gaining new skills through the internship. She liked working outside and enjoyed experiencing the whole process of planting and harvesting vegetables.

Alex

Alex liked working at the internship because he enjoys being outside and staying active. He thought learning about insect pests that are bad for plants was cool, and he really enjoyed when the interns cooked and ate together on Wednesdays.

cris

This is the second year Cris has been a summer intern with City Sprouts. He’s working on paying for his Wayne State College tuition as he aspires to be a music producer. He enjoyed working outside and getting to know the other interns.

Eh doh pah

This is also Eh Doh Paw’s second year as a City Sprouts Intern. She’s enjoyed learning about the chickens, making jam, and harvesting. She loves cooking, and her favorite meal she prepared as a team was the fried rice.

jailaiyah

Jailaiyah liked the positive environment and diversity that City Sprouts had to offer, so she came back this summer for a second year. She felt like she wasn’t just making an impact in her environment, but her community as well.

Jean

Jean enjoys working with friends and growing and taking care of plants. He felt like this internship was a fun job. His favorite dish that was prepared at City Sprouts was the potato salad.

jess

Jess' three favorite things about working with City Sprouts were the chickens, working with her team, and learning about the vegetable-growing process. Jess is attending Metro’s Horticulture program and hopes to become a biology teacher.

Keegan

This was Keegan’s second summer with City Sprouts. She really enjoyed learning how to can vegetables and make jams. She also liked going on a field trip to Big Muddy Urban Farm and Gifford Park.

lar lar

Lar Lar was also part of the internship last year. She joined us again this year because she wanted to learn even more about growing food. She has really enjoyed learning about and taking care of the chickens, as well as growing vegetables.

Neh

Neh applied to this internship because she wants to have her own restaurant one day. She enjoys the planting process, and working outside. She liked learning about plants she had never heard of. Her favorite thing to grow is tomatoes.

Nye

Nye is working on her communication skills so she can reach her goal of becoming a nurse. Her favorite days were Saturdays where she got to either work at the farm stand or assist with the Little Sprouts program.

pah

Paw joined this internship because she likes to garden. She also thinks it’s useful because she gets to practice her English and work on her communication skills. She enjoys working with her team, cooking, and planting.

suzana

She likes harvesting vegetables and to see the results of all her team’s hard work. Suzana is passionate about helping people and plans on becoming a lawyer one day to fulfill that mission.

cassie

Cassie is very interested in the culinary arts. She felt like she learned a ton about growing food and cooking during her internship with City Sprouts. Her favorite thing to grow is tomatoes, despite them being challenging.

juan

Juan, one of our City Sprouts South interns, has been a great asset to the team. He loves the feeling of accomplishment after a hard day's work. Juan is attending classes at Metro’s Culinary Arts program and hopes to own a restaurant one day.

mia

Mia interned with City Sprouts because she wanted to learn how to grow food and make sustainable meals. She said that now when she goes to a grocery store, she thinks a lot more about where the food comes from.

saving local seeds

seed of the year

The Seed of the Year program started in 2019 as a collaboration between City Sprouts, The Big Garden, Big Muddy Urban Farm, and Omaha Public Library. The goal of the program is to increase the amount of locally saved seed available in Omaha and to encourage Omaha residents’ ability and confidence around saving seed.

2019’s Seed of the Year was the Rattlesnake Bean! Seed packets and a growing and seed saving guides were provided free of charge at City Sprouts and all of the partner locations.

By the end of the season, the seed had been locally grown and saved and were redistributed to community members, stocked at our organizations for future use, and became part of the Omaha Public Library Common Soil Seed Library!

Learn more

seed school

In 2019 City Sprouts partnered with The Big Garden to host Omaha's first annual Seed School, taught by our staff who were trained at the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance Seed School. This 2-day intensive course for gardeners, farmers, seed savers, and seed stewards taught topics on seeds like the history of seeds, planning for seed saving, and isolation techniques. On the second day, attendees also got some hands-on experience at cleaning and processing seeds. Through Seed School, we hope to build a local network of seed savers committed to preserving biodiversity.

cultivadoras

Siembra Salud program

City Sprouts South served as a partner in the launch of the Siembra Salud program with Latino Center of the Midlands, CHI, Nebraska Extension, and One World. The program sends cultivadoras, or family garden instructors, to help provide education and resources for families to build, grow, and maintain their own garden. City Sprouts South provided plants for the home gardens as well as training for the Cultivadoras and classes on fermentation and canning. The program served 19 families and those families were able to grow over 1500lbs of produce!

The following individuals, foundations, and organizations have supported City Sprouts in 2019, making our programming possible. We also thank all of the community members who have made donations and volunteered their time!

Mary Adams

Jimmy Albin

Mary Allen

Jane Alseth

Emily Andersen

Valerie Anderson

Clyde & Mary Anna Anderson

Rebecca Anderson

Approach Climbing Gym

Arbor Day Foundation

Archetype Coffee

Kim Armstrong

Susan Aschinger

John Ball

Katie Barr

Josh & Dana Bartee

Alyssa Beebe

Bellevue Berry Farm

Kelli Bello

Jacqueline Bendon

Rae Berry

Laurie A Bishop

Catherine Bloom

Aimee Boer

Jackie Borcyk

Elizabeth Bouza

Dee Ann Bowen

Angela Brown

Judy Brun

William Bugert & Carrie Eidsness

Chelsea Burdic

Tim & Cindy Burns

Theresa Ann Bush

Octavia Butler

Virginia Cabezas

Joan Carnaby

Rebecca Carr

Cait Caughey

Leigh and John Cheloha

CHI Health

Kent Cisar

Claire M Hubbard Foundation

Jessica & David Clark

Jennifer Collis

Michael Combs

Confectionist Omaha

Sam & Paula Cooper

Deborah Covert

Doug Craven

Crazy Gringa Hot Sauce

Creighton Athletics

Creighton Federal Union

Creighton University

Robert J Crisler

Gertrude Crosby

Mary Current

Pamela Davis

Sarah Dawson

Claudia & Tony Deeb

Yolanda Delgado

Dhana Devanaboyina

Barbara J. Dilly

Mary Drake

Mark & Roxanne Draper

Ben Drickey

Melinda Drickey

Linda Duckworth

Durham Museum

Ellen & Jack Duysen

Edge Body Boot Camp

Ciprianna Engel

Entrap Games

Shelley Ernst

Chris & Seana Fairchild

Marshall & Mona Faith

Filmstreams

First National Bank

Fontenelle Forest

Jessica Foreman

Cynthia Frasier & Chad Lebo

Jeff French

David Fulton

Fuzzy's Taco

Crystal Gale

Adelynn Gengenbach

Sara Going

Virginia J. Goomis

Sonya & Christian Gray

Mary Green

Natural Grocers

Mary Sue Grossman

Harold Hall

Jane L Hamer

Lisa Hammond

Shannon Hansen

Julianne Harm

Jane Hartig

PJ Hassenstab

Heartland B-Cycle

Tim Held

Angie & Michael Hempel

Marvin Henderson, Sr.

Robert Hess

Hilton Omaha

Marilyn Hoegemeyer

Alex Hook

Amanda Huckins

J Coco

Marsha & Andrew Jameton

Jaros Family Foundation

Taylor Jespersen

Jetton Charitable Fund

Sarah Johnson

Eric Johnson

Nancy Jorgensen

Kimberley & Michael Joyce

LeAnne Kaiser

Adam Kalin

Karma Yoga Omaha

Tara K. Karolski

Evelyn Katz

Ranae Keckeisen

Richard Kelley

Justin Kemerling

Kendra Scott

Tim Kerkhove

Cheryl Kessell

Anne Konen

John & Wende Kotouc

Larry Kurtz

James and Regina Kyler

Jose & Isabel Labrador

Kathryn Lalley Dewell

Andrea Lang

Steve Langan & Liz Ryan

Nicholas Langel

Shelby Larson

Erika Latimer

Le Jardin Garden Club

Kristy Leahy

Stephanie Lee

Christiane Ley

Ryan Litherland

Oksana Lockridge & Larry Schopfer

Brent Lubbert

Lucky Bucket

Gina Lypaczewski

Clare Maakestad

Paul J Maakestad

Rachel Mabey

Anne Machian

Catherine Mahern

Adrianne Marinkovich

Marriott Downtown Omaha

Megan Martin

Stephanie Matejka

Diane Mattern

Morgan Matya

Ed & Carrie May

Shelli Mayer

Mayor Jean Stothert City of Omaha

Chris McClellan

Michael McClellan

Lynn McCormack

Clifton McEvoy

Loretta McNally

David & Josie Metal Corbin

Minier Family Fund

Nathan Morgan

Mr. Toads

Mulhall's

Duncan Murphy

Barbara Naughtin

Donna Neff

David Newman

Kelly and Drew Nielsen

Amy Niles

Terri O'Brien

Christine Olson

Cole Otto

Matthew Owens

Anne Ozar & Ashley Hall

Allan Pacholski

Mike and Jen Parker

Nicole Partusch

George Patenode

Robert Patterson

Paul & Oscar Giger Foundation

Jessica Perrigan

Carol Pinard-Cronin

Krista Polito

Deanna Polk

John Pollack

Francie Prier

Athena Ramos

Matthew Reinarz

Danny Reyes

Michael Rhoades

Fred Robertson

Chris Robie

Chris & Tom Rock

Kenny Rocker

Rockstar Party Bus

Jillian Roger

Rotary Club of Omaha- North

Jack & Nancy Round

John Royster & Katie Blesener

Trevor Sandige

Cathy Schneiders

Schwab Charitable
Lindsay M. Miller & Peter W. Ambler Charitable Fund

Nicole Schwarz

Lourdes Secola

Seim Johnson, LLP

Patricia Seivert

Donald & Cheryl Schendt

Anthony Selting

Semerad Foundation

Kirby & Megan Simmering

Paul Simon

Spencer's

Jeremy Stanosheck

Hillary Stickler

Chris Stratman

Sunset Hills Garden Club

Patrick & Nina Swanson

Sysco

Brittani Tanhueco

Brandon Taylor

April Lynn Taylor

Ted and Wally's

The Bee Cause

The Grey Plume

The Grove Juicery

Grace Thomas

Susan Thomas

Sharon Thonen

Jerllyn Thurber

Debra & Charles Tomek

Top Nails

Katherine Townsend

Antoinette Tribulato

Allyson Tripplett

Jaimee Trobough

Josh Turner

Kathleen Turner

Nick Tvurdy

Union Pacific

United Way for Southeastern Michigan

University of Nebraska Foundation

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Megan VanAlstine

Nancy Vander Sluis

Albert & Valerie Varas

Laura von Roenn

Dan Walsh

David Watts

Dan Watts

Barbara Weinberg

William Weiss

Katie Weitz

Weitz Family Foundation

Ken and Valerie West

Jo Bartikoski & D.E. Westling

Matt Wettengel

Whole Foods

Nancy Williams

Eric Williams & Kristine Hull

John Williams

Sherman & Kristie Willis

Adam & Kylie Wilmes

Jane Wilson

Kay Wilwerding

James Winner

Ryan Wishart and Liz Veazy

Debbie Wyatt

Ali Clark Yahnke & Scott Yahnke

Ali Yahnke

Jeff Zaleski

Leanne Ziettlow

Cassandra Zywiec

City Sprouts Staff Pictured left to right:

John Huebscher, Urban Farm Manager | Alex O'Hanlon, South Garden Manager | Anna Brun, Education Manager | Aaron French, Farm Manager | Shannon Kyler Community Engagement Coordinator, Addie Gengenbach, Communications Manager, Roxanne Draper, Executive Director [Not pictured] Clare Maakestad, Communications Manager

2019 Board Pictured (left to right)

Back Row: David Arrell, Jose Labrador, Dan Walsh, Cassie Goulet, Patricia Seivert, Kristie Willis, Kirby Simmering, LeAnne Kaiser, Roxanne Draper (Executive Director), Octavia Butler

Front Row (Executive Board): Brittani Tanhueco (Secretary), Seana Fairchild (President), Cassandra Zywiec (Vice President), and Jack Round (Treasurer)

Not Pictured: Sara Going, Kimbler Harrold

New in 2019: Cassie Goulet, LeAnne Kaiser, Patricia Seivert

Letter from the president

At City Sprouts we cultivate healthy communities and sustainable, equitable food systems. I think a keyword there is “community.” Just as we can’t grow delicious crops without good soil, we can see the fruits of our programs without the rich input of community members, donors, funders, and staff that have played key roles in building a stronger community through gardening.

As the board, we’re so thankful for those who supported our annual Grow with Us Gala, in which over 200 people raised over $33,000 and honored our Community Cultivator – Metropolitan Community College. That kind of financial support helps programs like our Summer Urban Farming Internship create pathways to employment for a stronger Omaha community. We’re also thankful for the strong foundation laid by Roxanne, who retired in December 2019 after 7 years of growth – organizationally, programmatically, and in our impact on the lives our local community. Finally, we’re excited to have Katie Kresha, our new Executive Director, work tirelessly alongside our team to ensure the transition is smooth for the people we serve and our collaborators.

Whether you’re a community member or a corporation, we hope you will continue to join us in our effort to promote community health and wealth through gardening, education, and workforce development!

Sincere thanks,