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  • Ben Franklin Garden Fundraising Update
  • Aerial image of Ben Franklin Community Garden
  • Violin concert at Ben Franklin Community Garden
  • Cellocentric performing at Ben Franklin Community Garden
  • Summer day in Ben Franklin Community Garden
project leader
Jordan A
location
1905 Spring Rd
(Old Brooklyn)
latest update rss
We have wood! And a structure!

the project

    

Ben Franklin Community Garden (BFCG) is located in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn Neighborhood and is coming up on it's 40th Anniversary in 2021. Historically, the garden was used as a teaching garden with Cleveland Public School’s garden program and had a gazebo where students learned and relaxed. 

BFCG has been a community gem for many years, spurring long-term relationships between gardeners and the community at large and a pavilion would add to the opportunities for community building. This space would provide an area for folks to gather (in a socially distanced way) and take in diverse programming that would serve to engage folks on a consistent basis. 

BFCG envisions consistent programming in the pavilion - concerts, poetry, children's plays, all-ages educational programs, and so on which is very difficult with our current setup. The garden had some programming in 2020, however, it was not ideal due to the constraints of not having a gathering area. The pavilion will solve this problem and help us expand our community footprint.

 

the steps

The global pandemic, material shortages, scope changes and availablity of contractors severely impacted our initial timeline. That said, check our updates page to see our progress. It may be a bit behind but we're getting there!

March 2021

Apply for Neighborhood Connections Rapid Response COVID Grant

Grant application successful, $5000 awarded

Early April 2021

Gather quotes and acquire contractors for job.

Late April 2021 (Shifted to June 2021)

Pour foundation, partially acquire wood (in anticipation of additional funding through IOBY campaign)

May/June 2021 (Shifted to August 2021)

Begin full on build out in anticipation of an early summer ribbon cutting.

July 2021 (We got this part down! Kind of.)

First 'Official' Concert/Event

Overall Summer/Fall/Winter 2021

Ongoing concerts and community events

why we're doing it

Ben Franklin Community Garden is celebrating its 40th Year in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn Neighborhood. In that time, it's been a place where folks from all around the area come to the garden, grow together, and build community. A pavilion would give gardeners and community members a place to continue that tradition, and then some.

budget

Disbursed budget 12.13.21:

Wood, Various Sizes, Welco Lumber Co. - $4459.20

Tongue and Groove Base Wood, Menards - $1435.19

Metal Roof, Don Dailey Builder Inc. (partial) - $1422.11

Misc - $133.50

=$7,316.50



TOTAL RAISED = $7,450.00
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) N/A
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) waived
TOTAL TO DISBURSE= $7,450.00

Disbursed budget 9.23.21:

Wood, Various Sizes, Welco Lumber Co. - $4459.20

Tongue and Groove Base Wood, Menards - $1435.19

Metal Roof, Don Dailey Builder Inc. (partial) - $1422.11

=$7,316.50



TOTAL RAISED = $7,450.00
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) N/A
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $133.50
TOTAL TO DISBURSE= $7,316.50

Original Budget:

These numbers are still rough around the edges, but in general we are estimating building materials for this project will come to approximately $12,600, of which we've already secured $5,000 from Neighborhood Connections. After covering building costs, additional monies will go towards events in this new space.

PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED = $8,600

$3,000 for lumber, including roof boards

$4,600 for metal roof

$1,000 for labor/hardware

TOTAL PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED    $8,600
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%)    N/A
"ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) (Donation processing fee does not apply to match funding.)"    $174
TOTAL TO RAISE=    $8,774
Donation processing fees apply to donations only. 100% of match funding goes to projects. Please note, fees are estimated here and final numbers may change based on the final amount raised and amount of match funding applied to this campaign.    

updates

We have wood! And a structure!

Posted 08/17/2021 - 3:40pm

Thanks to the hard work of amazing volunteers from Business Volunteers Unlimited and Eaton Corporation, we now have a structure! 

We still are roughly $2,000 short of our Ioby goal, however we appreciate every dollar that has been contributed so far. 

Please help us close this gap by letting those in your circle know about this project and invite them out to our next concert North Coast Winds Quintet! 

Whoa, been a while!

Posted 08/09/2021 - 11:45am

Hi Everyone,

We realize it's been a while since our last update - we've been busy figuring out what to do with all of this zucchini! Since our last post we've had a handful of live events and it's been amazing to see so many folks turn out for our events. 

 

We're currently planning on raising wood this week in the hope of closing out our fundraising efforts by the end of the month (we're over 75% there!). 

Everyone on the Operating Committee knows that it's been a tough year (and some) with COVID but appreciate any amounts you can give, as well as a share with your friends, family, coworkers, etc.! We look forward to celebrating with everyone once this is complete!

Concrete Pad Poured!

Posted 06/16/2021 - 2:19pm

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Ioby Campaign thus far. This past Saturday our concrete contractor came out and poured the pad where the pavilion will sit, exciting times!

We are working diligently on getting our wood sourced but as you might imagine it's a tough time to be talking to mills.

Due to this issue our timeline has shifted some but we're still on our way to start having events on the new pad (and hopefully) begin construction mid-summer.

Thank you once again for your donations, we’re lucky to have such a supportive network and community!

-The Garden Operating Committee 

Thank You!

Posted 05/05/2021 - 9:39am

Thank you to everyone for their donations so far. We're inching closer towards our goal. 

The committee's currently in the process of ordering the wood and have secured a concrete contrator. We anticipate that you'll begin to see the concrete pad taking shape sometime in June. 

 

We are absolutely grateful for everyone's support and are excited for what this project will add to the garden for years to come.

 

A couple questions came in in last night's kickoff meeting asking where it will be going. Here's a rough estimation of where it will be (yellow circle). Additional renderings are expected in the near future.

Approximate Location of Shed

 

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Eileen Dorsey
  • Cyndi C.
  • Lisa L
  • Debbie O
  • Toni U.
  • Anonymous
  • Dani A.
  • Tamara Jo Chrestoff
  • Debbie G.
  • Patrick C.
  • Darlene & Marie Glass
  • Kathleen U.
  • Jordan Abbott
  • Sarah T.
  • Tampa Neighbor
  • Dennis G.
  • Anonymous
  • Rosenfeldt Family
  • Kiera K.
  • Justin Makosky
  • Katie B.
  • Jordan A.
  • bert&john
  • Kathleen K
  • Ann Marie Hanna
  • Cory M.
  • Christine O.
  • Tomato Monster
  • Renee H.
  • Marta O.
  • Rachael S.
  • Barbara B.
  • Jim R.
  • Library Lady
  • Oakley W.
  • Anonymous
  • Kimberly Repinski
  • kathryn t RIETER
  • Mark
  • Amy B.
  • Denise P.
  • Lisa G
  • SANDRA L M.
  • David K.
  • James K.
  • Nancy K.
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous
  • Renata J.
  • Namaste
  • Wilfredo R.
  • Anonymous
  • Kathleen U.
  • Erin F.
  • Cheryl K.
  • Robyn S.
  • Joe M
  • Jennifer K.
  • Rakauskas Architecture
  • Mary Ellen
  • Jennifer T.