How we grow, together.
Grassroots Gardens WNY is an independent organization of gardeners and activists in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY, committed to facilitating the creation of local community gardens.
Today, we operate as both an urban land trust and a facilitator of leased land with a network of over 100 community and school gardens.
Our 100% community-driven model ensures that community members manage gardens within the Grassroots Gardens network, adhering to stringent guidelines to preserve food and soil safety.
The majority of our community gardens exist in areas affected by food apartheid. Since these areas often lack grocery services, farmers’ markets, and other means for residents to access healthy, fresh produce, our community gardens fulfill a critical need for food access.
Our Mission
Grassroots Gardens WNY is a dedicated group of community gardeners and activists. Our mission is to share knowledge, power, and resources to grow healthy food, heal systemic harm, and strengthen neighborhood connections through community gardens.
Our Vision
A lasting network of land and people growing healthy communities.
Our Values
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Equity and Justice
We believe equity is a human right. We are actively engaged in creating more inclusive, accessible and just operations, representation, and relationships across our garden network. This includes aligning with communities who have systematically been denied access to food and land in their fight for racial justice, food justice, and land justice. In our work, we strive for collective liberation.
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Community Leadership
Our decisions are informed by and carried out by the people most directly impacted by them. Our collective work is open and transparent, and we are accountable to each other in love. We are directed by the strengths and needs of our community membership.
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Fostering Connections
Our work is rooted in the belief that a community garden has the power to transform a neighborhood or school. Creating a garden together is empowering – it creates environmental awareness for people of all ages and improves physical, social and emotional health. By sharing power, knowledge, and resources among our beloved community, we build our collective resiliency.
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Stewardship
We strive to use best practices in conservation and will hold ourselves to high standards as we reclaim our cities and soil from decades of industrial pollution. To us, land justice requires collective ownership, stewardship, reparations, partnership with indigenous communities, and strong advocacy to keep the control of land in the hands of the community.
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Restorative Practices
In all our work, we do what we can to heal systemic harm by contributing to the healing of individuals, our society, and our land. The act of healing our land heals the people caring for it, and our gardens are treasured as intergenerational places to restore a right relationship with the earth and with each other.
The People Who Make It All Possible
These committed members of our staff and board dedicate themselves every day to uniting communities and making Western New York a more equitable place. Our partner organizations and generous donors play a crucial role in making our mission possible through their contributions.
Financials & Documents
Click to read current documents and forms. Historical information available by request.
2024 Annual Report
2024-2025 Strategic Plan
Tax Filings and Documents
Questions?
Remembering Our Roots
A look back on the past seasons, influential people, and key moments in Grassroots Gardens WNY history.
Buffalo Freedom Gardens
The Freedom Gardens initiative inspires resilience and independence for Buffalo residents struggling under food apartheid.
In 2024, Buffalo Freedom Gardens became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and continues to pursue its mission of helping underserved communities overcome food insecurity.
Public Land for Public Benefit
Voted #1 on the 2022 and 2023 Community Agenda, this policy urged the City of Buffalo to collaborate with residents, community groups, and nonprofits to dedicate 50% of city-owned vacant land to equitable, sustainable uses like green affordable housing, passive green spaces, and community gardens.
Land Trust Accreditation
In August of 2021, Grassroots Gardens Western New York became officially recognized as an accredited land trust, a goal we had spent years to achieve.
Donate to our Garden for All Times appeal to help us preserve our network of community gardens.
GGB Becomes Grassroots Gardens Western New York
In 2016, Grassroots Gardens Buffalo merged with our sister organization, Greenprint Niagara, based in Niagara Falls. Together, we formed Grassroots Gardens Western New York.
A Legacy of Growth
April 2006 marked the passing of Mr. Zeckhauser; GGB had lost its founder and most ardent supporter, but as the organization continues to grow, his legacy lives on.
By 2010, GGB had expanded its network thanks to a dedicated professional staff focused on revitalizing Buffalo through community organizing, environmental justice, and helping underserved communities overcome food insecurity.
Grassroots Gardens Buffalo
is Founded
Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo was founded in the early 1990s by J. Milton “Zeke” Zeckhauser, inspired by the value he and other activists saw in the city’s vacant land. Soon after, Sally Marks became GGB’s first board president.
In 1995, GGB officially incorporated. For the next fifteen years, our small volunteer-led organization grew to host a network of around 30 gardens, acting as a facilitator of access to city-owned vacant land.
