At the core of Rooted in Education is our passion for education and creating the connections that open the doors and cultivate the passion within a child for who they want to be and how they may share their talents with the world.

In 2016 our board came together with individuals representing teachers, business owners and parents who were dedicated to the idea that all children should have access to enrichment education opportunities. As such, our Empowering Enrichment educational grants were our primary focus prior to 2020. During the shut down, at-school enrichment programs came to a hault. With no idea when programs would come back and, even if they did, what the educational landscape would look like, we began to consider how we as an organization could pivot in a way that aligned with our passion.

What we observed was that there were two very real needs that schools were being called on to meet: transformation in the delivery of education and the hurdles of food distribution on a massive scale. We experienced in a very public way the reality of the stress and anxiety that many of our neighbors faced to fill their pantries and refridgerators and the cataclysmic impact that it had on the children who depend on those food programs to eat - many of which may be recipients of our educational grants.

That is when we went from planting seeds for education, to planting seeds for education, nourishment and connection to food source because you cannot learn if you are hungry. Fare Harvest community gardens symbolize the innate potential within each child, and dedicates space for their nourishment and connection to food source - both of which are vital to a child's social and emotional well-being, as well as that of the community to which they belong.