Beacon Hill Community Garden Receives Grant from BrightView Fund for Social Justice

A Pacific Northwest community garden seeking to provide food sustainability for residents experiencing financial hardship is the newest recipient of a grant from the BrightView Fund for Social Justice.

Seattle Beacon Hill Garden Club, an affiliated program of Beacon Arts, runs a series of programs designed to cultivate friendship and community through gardening. The Garden Club’s signature Seed Library and Garden Share projects were both started in 2020 during the pandemic as ways to assist local families in need.

Betty Jean Williamson, Beacon Arts Board President & Beacon Hill Garden Club Member accepted the donation on behalf of the Garden Club.

“Thank you to BrightView for the generous support of our work,” said Williamson. “We are a neighborhood of 40,600 BIPOC – Black, Indigenous, and People of Color – residents, with 40 percent immigrants and refugees. This new source of support will allow Beacon Hill Garden Club to purchase more seeds and supplies for our neighbors and will help us in expanding the selection to serve our extremely diverse community.”

Presenting the donation for BrightView were Renton (Wa.) Branch Manager Charley Rash, Account Managers Christine Wetmore and Wayne Bernritter, and Project Manager Uriel Calderon. Wetmore is an active member of the Garden Club.

“I am honored to be a part of the BrightView Fund for Social Justice donating to this organization that promotes locally grown and sustainably sourced food that is donated to our local community. It’s also thrilling that Christine has championed this contribution,” said Rash.

BrightView actively engages the field in social giving and established the BrightView Fund for Social Justice to support organizations and initiatives that promote equality and inclusion in our local communities.