UH Annual Report 2015

ANNUAL REPORT
2014-2015

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

From empowering residents of underserved neighborhoods to providing
economic opportunity for local family farms...

Dear Friend of Urban Harvest,
Thanks to your support, today we are growing a healthier, more vibrant
city. From empowering residents of underserved neighborhoods to grow
healthy food for themselves and their community to providing economic
opportunity for local family farms, we are developing food security for our
region in a healthy, ecological way.
I am proud to report that our gardens in Sunnyside are growing over 2,000
pounds of produce for that community, one of Houston’s largest food
deserts. However, there is a whole lot more growing in these two gardens:
here, an experienced gardener is teaching new ones, a grandmother is
sharing her love of gardening with her grandson, two young neighborhood
boys are catching anole lizards and chasing butterflies. Neighbors, friends
and family are gathering in the garden, sharing stories and a potluck every
now and again.
Your continued support is making a difference every day in the lives of our
fellow Houstonians.Thank you for funding the work that we do.
Together we are changing the lives, soil and plates of all Houstonians.

Scott Howard
President

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Keiji Asakura Advisory Board John Jacob Ray Sher
Scott Howard Betty Baer Richard C. Bost Kellie E. Karavias Toral Sindha
Dr. Margaret Basu Annette Bracey Shawn McFarland Brenda Beust Smith
Vice President Beth Clark Jim Bundscho Veon McReynolds, Ph.D. Annie Tursi
David Orr Brian Herod V.J. Dispenza Mary Frances Morris C. Patrick Waites
Heather Houston Rufus Driver Joel Luks Dr. Bing You
Treasurer Marguerite Johnson Gary Edmonson Kathleen Ownby
Paul D. Charles David Morris Jerry W. Fabian Bob Randall, Ph.D.
Jean Fefer, Ph.D. Irv Robbins
Secretary Executive Director Kathy Huber Mike Serant
Robert A. Hermes Sandra Wicoff Cathy Ingham

Past President
Garland Kerr

ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS MD Anderson Partnership
A collaborative model teaching
10090% of our Farmers Market vendors are within basic gardening classes to patients,
MILES OF HOUSTON because gardening helps the
Our Farmers Markets provided a mind, body and spirit. Classes are
venue for 93 small businesses, free and open to patients,
including 43 local farmers, caregivers, survivors and anyone
ranchers and gardeners last year. touched by cancer.
Eighty-eight percent of participating
farms are organic or sustainable. 3,600+

STUDENTS

received hands-on gardening
and nutrition education.

58 32Volunteer Workdays in Community Gardens 72% ser1v0e8fAofofldiadteesCeortms manudniltoywG-ianrcdoemnse areas

First supported 11 community gardens 60,000More than
Earth Day with help from 100+ volunteers. pounds
Workday of food donated
to food banks,
Our Youth Education homeless shelters
Program has and food pantries
by 24 gardens.
school partner sites with
outdoor classrooms 3,500
in Houston and
Spring Branch ISD. trees sold during the
annual Fruit Tree Sale, the
SUNNYSIDE FOOD DESERT INITIATIVE largest single day sale in
the country. Event featured
2 gardens = pounds of 100 varieties acclimated to
28 beds thrive in this region.
22 gardeners 2,000+ produce
harvested
annually.

YOUR DONATION AT WORK

Everyone benefits from community gardens.
These green spaces filter rainwater and

help to keep lakes, rivers and groundwater
clean. Gardens reduce soil erosion

and runoff, which lessens flooding and
saves municipalities’ money.

On April 18, 2015, we held our first annual
Earth Day Workday, a day of service benefitting
community gardens and the contributions they
provide to our city, community and environment.
Over 100 volunteers replaced crumbling garden
bed frames, installed trellises, mulched fruit trees

and garden paths, and cleaned garden beds.

Urban Harvest’s Saturday Farmers
Market at Eastside Street is the largest
direct producer market in the Gulf Coast
region and plays a key educational and

economic role in developing a
sustainable, local food system. Stacie and
Garrett Gundermann joined our farmers

market in 2009. Since that time their
farm, Gundermann Acres, has grown

from 90 acres and 2 employees to
500 acres and 20 employees!

“We love seeing people enjoying the
food that we work so hard to grow.
Garret says he loves to see a little
kid come and grab a strawberry or
cucumber, bite into it and just tell
their mom or dad how good it is!”

Stacie Gundermann, Gundermann Acres

“Most of them have never seen how plants, fruits
and vegetables actually start out from seeds and
grow.They get to plant a seed and to see their
harvest and to experience the cycles that it goes
through - they can see life cycles, they can see
actual ecosystems and how the plants and animals
interact.”

Lakeisha Ogbor, science teacher, Peck Elementary

Our Youth Education program uses school gardens
as outdoor classrooms to bring education to
life through curriculum aligned with state
testing and core subjects.When school gardens are
aligned with classroom curriculum, they enhance a
child’s learning, because students learn experientially
through hands-on activities.

Urban Harvest is the only organization in the
greater Houston area offering certification in
organic gardening and sustainability through
the Growing Organic Vegetables and
Permaculture series.

Urban Harvest encourages community, sustainability and
good nutrition through the teaching and support of organic gardening.

FINANCES REVENUE

Percentages derived from 9.30.15
audited financial statements.

EXPENSES

WE CREATE
AWARD-WINNING

PROGRAMS

2014 Keep Houston Beautiful Mayor’s
Proud Partner Award for Sunnyside

Food Desert Initiative

Best Farmers Market in Texas and
one of 50 best in the USA by
Cooking Light magazine

2015 Garden Club of America Award
for Outstanding Educational
Conservation Exhibit

2014-2015 DONORS

$50,000+ Paul Charles Ginni & Richard Mithoff Anthony Holbert
The Baxter Trust Beth Clark Luke Mondshine Vicki Huff & Eric Boerwinkle
The Brown Foundation, Inc. The Lillian H. & C.W. Duncan Nancy Edwards & Tracey & Andrew Hull
Houston Endowment, Inc. Jeff Jameson
$10,000+ Foundation Dr. Robert A. Randall Andrew Jobe
Anonymous Sarah & Eric Eilers Gay A. Roane Marguerite & Chris Johnson
The Clayton Fund, Inc. First Unitarian Universalist Irving L. Robbins Wendy Johnston
The Garden Club of Houston Bruce Roberson Ann W. Jones
GRITS Foundation Church Kelly Sandill Brenda & John Jones
H-E-B Lacy Crain & Joe Galloway Josephine Muller Shanks Bill Kearney
Terry Hershey Julie & Edward Griffin Jan & Bernard Silver Carolyn Kerr & Doyle Perkinson
The Powell Foundation Gulf Coast Pavers Simon & Schuster, Inc. Kimberly Korth
Stephen M. Seay Foundation, Inc. Julie & Paul Herman Brian M. Smyth Beth Lasater
The Simmons Foundation The Jacob & Terese Hershey U.S. Concepts. L.L.C. Lisetta A. Lavay
The Susan Vaughan Kellye & Kyle Wright Michelle LeBlanc
Foundation Lorraine & Ed Wulfe Liberty Kitchen
Foundation, Inc. Kathy & Mark Juedeman $200+ Bruce Loeser
The Wells Fargo Foundation Lise Liddell William Anderson Anne Loo & Brad Nyberg
$5,000+ Diane & David Modesett Keiji Asakura David R. Lummis
BASF Corporation Suzanne K. Morris Brad Barber Marathon Oil
Blackburn & Carter Myers Younger & Associates, Inc. Jody Blazek & David Crossley Susan Martin
Buchanan’s Native Plants Mary Sommers & Samuel Pyne Julie & Marc Boom Bonnie McMurtry
Beth & Scott Clarke Lynn & Bill Rafferty Boheme LLC Sherry & Gerald Merfish
George & Mary Josephine Isla & Thomas Reckling Annis & Jack Bowen Jill & David Mincberg
The Alice Kleberg Reynolds Robert S. Brackman Family Peter Morris
Hamman Foundation Sandra Murray
Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation Foundation Dieu Rick Ngo
Barbara & Louis Sklar Robin & Kyle Britt Sandra & Patrick O’Donnell
Foundation Kathy Smyth John Brooks, Jr. Linda Peterson
Bridget Jensen & Scott Howard Terri & Ray Thomas Isabelle & John Chapman Linda Piserelle
Bridget Laura Jensen The Louis & Joyce Tucker Charlsie Childs Rosa & Bob Pollard
Garland Kerr & Jim Blackburn Clark Condon Associates, Inc. Anthony Pugh
The Lyons Foundation, Inc. Foundation Tom Clay Edlyn & David Pursell
The Strake Foundation Jeff Whitehurst & Ken Morris Candi Clement Robert Reavis
Whole Foods Market Whole Kids Foundation Dean Cook April Roberts
Williams Edith & Robert Zinn The Creek Group Ann & J. R. Romero, III
$2,500+ $500+ Liz & Steve Crowell Henry Roth
Betty Baer & Fred Krasny Margaret & George Basu Adrienne Daly Ann Davison & Leonard Rubin
Patricia Cravens J’Don & Marcus Bollom Polly Reed Daniel Sophia Sanchez
ExxonMobil Foundation Anne Bushman Tu Dao Michael Serant
Carol & Robert Hermes Sarah Cooke Brenda & Ed DeAlba Jennifer Shanahan
Anne Lewis & David Morris Almeria Cottingham Tara Deneke Victoria & David Sharp
Murphy Oil Corporation Lucy Randel & Charles D’Angelo Electra & Doug Elliott Reed Shelger
Carla O’Dell Dish Society Martha & Blake Eskew Ray Sher & Gary Edmondson
The Edward & Helen Katherine Shanks Dodd Gay & Carl Estes, II Matthew Skinner
Susan Edwards Marie Fay Evnochides Carol & Robert Smith
Oppenheimer Foundation Brenda & Jerry Fabian Sophia Ewalt Cindy Soefer
Gail & David Orr Jean & Morton Fefer Meshann Fitzgerald Francine Spiering
Elisa Stude Pye Muhammad Niaz Ur Rah Furuqui Ruth & Dan Flournoy Paul Steets
Shell Oil Company Meyer & Ida Gordon Foundation Helen Winkler Fosdick Alexander Trahan
Paul A.Winkler Timothy Green Dee Anna & Charlie Garland Sarah & Scott Van Beck
$1,000+ Charles Hermes Johanne Gatto Maggie & C. Richard Vermillion
AVEDA Corporation Wayne Johnson Tracy & Doug Glass Carol & Alan Walker
Robert Burleson Kathleen Keahey & Jim Peterson Melissa Grobmyer Ann Elizabeth White &
Maude Carter & Boyd Parker The Harris & Eliza Kempner Fund Julia & Eric Gutierrez
Jan & William Cato James & Sharon Kempner Tamela & James Hamilton Steven Schilling
Siobhan & Greg S. LeRoy Brian Herod Sandra Wicoff
Susan & Craig Lindberg
MALK Organics
Mid-Main Properties L.P.

2311 Canal, Suite 200 ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015
Houston,Texas 77003
Non Profit
Organization
U.S. POSTAGE

PAID
HOUSTON,TX
PERMIT NO. 4055

Illustrations: Freepik
Select photos: Joel Luks