West Seattle Garden Tour donates about $25,000 annually to hard-working non-profits in our community.
Their goals are aligned with our mission to promote horticultural-based interests, education, and artistic endeavors within West Seattle and beyond. Garden tour ticket sales comprise only half of our available grant money. The generous support of our sponsors and donors, along with raffle ticket sales, allow us to donate twice as many funds as we could with ticket sales alone.
WSGT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization staffed fully by volunteers, proudly donating about $25,000 annually to each year’s designated grant recipients. In 2012, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce voted us Westside Not-for-Profit Organization of the Year.
WHAT OUR GRANT RECIPIENTS ARE SAYING
“With support from the West Seattle Garden Tour, we’ve been able to expand our outreach in the West Seattle and White Center areas. Our largest program, the annual harvest, helps provide thousands of pounds of fresh produce to the West Seattle Food Bank and the White Center Food Bank.”
Image courtesy of City Fruit
Image courtesy of West Seattle Bee Garden
“I have been impressed with the group’s generosity, initiative, kindness and organization... I leave feeling supported and inspired by such a large group of people who are truly engaged in my project and who work hard to create opportunities for positive change in our community.”
“Thanks to the WSGT we have a very beautiful, productive and accessible garden that our children take full advantage of, growing fruits and vegetables, exploring nature, learning about the life cycle and interdependence of all natural elements and, most importantly, feeling connected to the environment and each other.”
Image courtesy of Seattle Children's PlayGarden
Image courtesy of PlantAmnesty
“[We] appreciate that the tour is investing locally, making a difference in our own communities, making connections, improving our lives through art and greenspace.”
“[Our new WSGT-funded interpretive] panels give us the opportunity to engage visitors in discussion and help them understand just of few of the many backstories of the Garden. While it is difficult to attribute the increase [in visitorship and memberhip] to any one effort, the Visitor Center staff has reported many visitors were rapt with the photos and stories and entered the Garden with a new kind of appreciation.”
Image courtesy of Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden
Image courtesy of ArtsWest
“At ArtsWest, our mission is to produce artistic events that provoke conversation, incite the imagination and use live theater as a powerful agent of change. ArtsWest has been extremely fortunate to have kept such a strong bond with the West Seattle Garden Tour. This partnership has helped incite the imagination of hundreds of children, and counting.”