Help create an amazing new learning space!

We are asking a few of our key partners to rally their friends, family, and networks to support our work. By becoming a fundraiser for GEAR Gardens, you will help Gahanna's Special Education students ages 18-21, and you'll help your friends feel good about doing good.

We're launching a new campaign called GEAR Gardens to create an exciting off-campus program designed to support Special Education students who are ages 18-21, and it would be great if you were a part of it.

GEAR Gardens will be a self-sustaining agricultural program that incorporates competitive integrated employment opportunities, independent living skills, and community-based instruction. The students will leave the program with invaluable work, life and social skills to enhance their transition to adulthood. Below are some of our program goals:

• The goal of our project is to develop and maintain an agricultural program. We will create a Christmas tree farm, wildflower garden, and pumpkin patch.
• A component of the program includes an overnight experience where students have an opportunity to stay overnight with their peers.
• We have a strong desire to give back to Gahanna Jefferson Schools as well as Jefferson Township and to be a resource to our families and neighborhoods. Our goal is that the land and outdoor spaces are used for educational programming for students in Pre-K-12th grade.
• GEAR Gardens will be a student-run business. Our students will be involved in all aspects of the work. The goal of the program is to be self-sustaining. Our funding model will include grants and as well as donations.
• We will develop partnerships with local universities so that our students have same-aged peers that they can work alongside. We will invite agricultural programs to use our land for ecology and environmental science purposes. We will work to foster and nurture the relationships with college-students and hope to create a community of learners who are working alongside one another.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? If you have contacts in the Construction industry that may want to be part of this exciting project, please contact Sharon Tomko (tomkos@gjps.org)

OR....you can start your own fundraising page and share it with your friends. Starting a fundraiser is easy to do, and it's fun. We'll even give you all the tools you'll need to make a difference. With your help we can build an amazing hands-on learning space for our Special Education students that provides work experiences, teaches independent living skills, and creates an outdoor learning space for the community.