From Vacant Lots to Gardens for Community Growth
From garden-inspired scents to garden-inspired communities, Mrs. Meyer’s believes one garden can grow a lot. In fact, we believe a garden is a powerful tool to drive social impact.
Introducing Lots of Compassion, our national initiative to celebrate and empower those using the goodness of the garden to grow compassion in their own backyard. By offering financial support and educational resources, we’re helping people across the country turn vacant lots into gardens for community growth.
Why is this so important? Well, about 15% of land in U.S. cities is vacant or abandoned. This vacant space can lead to negative outcomes for communities, including decreased mental and physical health, feelings of lacking community trust, and more.(AO Bowman, MA Pagano Terra Incognita: Vacant Land and Urban Strategies, Georgetown Univ Press, Washington, DC, 2010).
We transformed our first lot in Chicago, where we partnered with Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative — an organization dedicated to building community wealth on Chicago's South Side.
Starting April 14th—National Gardening Day—for every Compassion Flower product sold on mrsmeyers.com & Grove Co., $1 will go to the Lots of Compassion Program. With your help, we hope to fund $1 million in grant programs over the next 5 years (up to $200k annually until 2027, for a total of $1 million) so that local community gardens and their surrounding communities can thrive.