Grow Well Missouri Application Criteria
Grow Well Missouri partners with food pantries, local organizations, and volunteers to establish food
gardening programs that reach out to food pantry customers. By offering a selection of seeds, vegetable
transplants, educational materials, and one-on-one advice, Grow Well Missouri helps people reap the
many benefits of gardening. In 2016, Grow Well Missouri will help up to 6 communities that want to join
us and become a Grow Well Missouri partner. Grow Well Missouri currently partners with food pantries
and local organizations in Shelbina, St. James, Columbia, Mexico, California, and Boonville, Missouri.
Applications will be scored on the following criteria (21 points total):
 General interest among food pantry customers (i.e. clients, guests) (3 pts.)
 Project leadership (3 pts.)
 Partnership and support from the food pantry leadership and at least one of the following
groups: (5 pts.)
o Master Gardeners
o Garden Club
o 4H
o Future Farmers of America
o Health department
o Community Action
o Other related agency, organization, or business
 Volunteer support (for both seed repackaging and staffing Grow Well Missouri program during
food distributions) (3 pts.)
 Knowledge of the food pantry schedule and number of households and individuals served per
month (2 pts.)
 A plan for where and how the program will operate within the food pantry distribution, including
a proposed schedule (3 pts.)
 Interest in incorporating additional project activities including vegetable transplants, short
courses, gardening demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, or other (2 pts.)
Responsibilities of Partner Awardees
If selected to be a Grow Well Missouri partner, awardees agree to the following:
 Attend a face-to-face orientation to cover project logistics and seed repacking demonstration. The
training will likely take place in Columbia, Missouri in January or February, 2016.
 Repack seeds
 Schedule and staff program at the pantry
 Print educational materials
 Provide paper bags for seed distribution
 Acquire and distribute vegetable transplants (optional, but encouraged)
 Keep count of participants (template provided)
 Provide brief reports to and meet with Grow Well Missouri staff upon request
 Assist Grow Well Missouri staff with project evaluation (may include pre and post season
surveys with food pantry customers)
http://foodsecurity.missouri.edu
Grow Well Missouri Partner Application
Applicant Information
Full Name:
Date:
Last
First
M.I.
Address:
Street Address
Apartment/Unit #
City
Phone:
State
ZIP Code
Email:
Food Pantry Information
Food Pantry
Director’s Name
(if different):
Food Pantry
Director’s Phone
& Email:
Food Pantry
Schedule
(days and hours):
Which regional food bank
is the pantry affiliated
with:
No. of households
served per month at
food pantry:
No. of individuals
served per month at
food pantry:
http://foodsecurity.missouri.edu
Project Leadership
Please tell us who will be responsible for the project. We encourage a 2-3 person leadership team. Please provide
contact information if different from named person above.
Phone or
Name:
Email:
Phone or
Name:
Email:
Phone or
Name:
Email
Partners
Please list the local partners who plan to be involved along with their expected role in the project.
Role in
Partner Name:
project:
Partner Contact
Phone or
Person:
Email:
Role in
Partner Name:
project:
Partner Contact
Phone or
Person:
Email:
Role in
Partner Name:
project:
Partner Contact
Phone or
Person:
Email:
Additional Questions (Please feel free to use additional pages if needed)
1. Please tell us how you have determined the general interest in vegetable gardening and Grow Well
Missouri among food pantry customers.
2. How will you recruit volunteers OR what volunteer commitments do you have in place for the seed
repacking and staffing Grow Well Missouri during food distribution?
http://foodsecurity.missouri.edu
3. Please describe where and how you plan to integrate the Grow Well Missouri program into food
pantry distributions.
4. Considering the food pantry’s hours of operation, please tell us when you plan to operate Grow Well
Missouri at the food pantry. (i.e. What days and hours will you set up and offer the program. Please note:
Groups are not required to offer the program every day the food pantry is open.)
5. Please tell us how many households you intend to reach. (Note: Based on our experience, half of all
households who come to the pantry on a given day also participate in Grow Well Missouri.)
6. Please describe any ideas or plans you have to offer additional and related project activities during the
growing season.
Letter of Support
http://foodsecurity.missouri.edu
Please include one brief letter of support from either the food pantry (if application is being submitted by
a group other than the food pantry) or a partnering agency/organization.
Application Submission Deadline

The deadline for Partner Applications is December 18, 2015. We anticipate awardees will
be notified by January 4, 2016.

Partner Applications can be submitted in the following ways:
o By email to Bill McKelvey at McKelveyWA@missouri.edu
o By mail to:
Bill McKelvey
University of Missouri
203 Gentry Hall
Columbia, MO 65211

If you have question about Grow Well Missouri or this Application, please contact Bill
McKelvey at McKelveyWA@missouri.edu or 573-882-4973.
http://foodsecurity.missouri.edu
Timelines and important dates
Time
Activity
December 18, 2015
Applications due
January 4, 2016
Awards announced (tentative)
January - February
Attend face to face orientation, pick up seeds, organize and obtain all seed
repacking materials
February
Organize and conduct seed repacking, develop seed display, finalize logistics and
schedules, outline educational components, gather educational materials
March
Begin distributing cool season seeds and transplants
April
Begin distributing warm season seeds, continue with cool season seeds
May
Distribute warm season transplants, continue with warm season seeds
June
Distribute sweet potato slips and continue with warm season seeds until the
middle of the month
July – September
Consider options for additional programming, demonstrations, classes, or fall seed
distribution (July), etc.
http://foodsecurity.missouri.edu