GARD Center is having its 7th Annual FARM TO TABLE charity luncheon on April 13th, 2024,
at the beautiful Mercer’s Creek from 1 – 4pm.
Tickets may be purchased at Billy’s Foodmart, Roti King and Velvet Touch.
You may also call GARD Center at 463-4121 / 727-4121 and order your tickets.
Local Produce, Tasty Dishes & Top Chefs
For the planet; for the people‘ – the theme for the Closing Symposium of the IICA-CBF EbA project.
GARD Center GEF Small Grants Programme project themed : “Increasing food security by reducing the impact of drought and improving security.” practical training on field visit to Blaire Christian’s Backyard Garden in Bolans April 20, 2023
GARD Center GEF Small Grants Programme project themed : “Increasing food security by reducing the impact of drought and improving security.” practical training on field visit to Birchfield Osborne’s Backyard Garden in McKinnons, May 9, 2023
Composting Demonstration with Facilitator Ms. Efuru Elihu, a Backyard Gardening Technician in the Ministry of Agriculture
News Release
Youth Hydroponic Programme to Strengthen Community Food Production and Livelihood Opportunities
The GARD Center (Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Center) is a grassroot non-profit, non-government organization which operates under the auspices of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA). The Center is very pleased to announce its continuous partnership with the Sandals Foundation through its funding of the “Climate Smart Agriculture For Youth- Hydroponic” Project.
For the past thirty-two (32) years, the Center has been working arduously with at-risk youth, men and women in the community to engage them in various forms of sustainable agriculture for the 21st century.
With a primary focus of raising climate smart agriculture practices amongst young people towards long term food security, the Climate Smart Agriculture for Youth – Hydroponic programme seeks to:
The programme support forms part of the Sandals Foundation’s 40 sustainable community projects being executed across the Caribbean to commemorate its parent company’s 40th anniversary. Through its broad scale investment in a number of farming and agriculture educational programmes, the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts seeks to strengthen the Caribbean’s food security and livelihood opportunities.
About the Sandals Foundation
The Sandals Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts International (SRI), the Caribbean’s leading family-owned resort company. The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization was created to continue and expand upon the charitable work that Sandals Resorts International has undertaken since its founding in 1981 to play a meaningful role in the lives of the communities where SRI operates throughout the Caribbean. The Sandals Foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment. One hundred percent of the monies contributed by the general public to the Sandals Foundation go directly to programs benefiting the Caribbean community. To learn more about the Sandals Foundation, visit online at www.sandalsfoundation.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
This partnership is in collaboration with the Agricultural Extension Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The GARD Center will expand its Climate Smart Agriculture programme that focuses on Hydroponics systems.
Ms. Anika Aska represented GARD Center as a Panelist on United Nations Joint Programme Building Effective Resilience for Human Security in Caribbean Countries: The Imperative of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in a Strengthened Agriculture Sector, is presently being implemented in the countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia. This programme is being implemented by UN Women, UNDP, ILO, and FAO with funding from the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS); very interactive and informative discussion which among regional representatives and specialists. (See the video below.)
GARD Center tells the journey of the Beginners Sewing course that came into existence during COVID-19 season. The Center is very excited to have seventeen (17) of twenty (20) participants completing the training experience.
Once again, we genuinely express our gratitude to the Mill Reef Fund for its invaluable donation for the success of this course. This afforded the participants an opportunity to be able to venture into a sewing for sustainable provision for their families.
Our sincerest thanks to our other partners NSA for its contribution of materials for sewing masks and surgical gowns that is of great necessity in this Corona Virus season where there is mandatory mask wearing. Additionally, Amiya Designs and Andra’s Designs for imparting the sewing skills necessary to produce the items that were on display on Friday, September 18th, 2020 (pictures attached). We were truly blessed by an anonymous donor of six (6) sewing machines which was greatly a need and appreciated. This made an indelible mark on the course.
To our supporters including the National Garment Manufacturing Initiative and the Ministry of Trade for their continued assistance in our new venture.
Download or Open Pdf: Press Release Document in PDF format
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Mercers Creek, Antigua, West Indies
+1 268 463-4121 or 562-0084
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