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City of Milford Awarded Agricultural Enhancement Grant

Posted on: March 19, 2024 - 1:09pm

The City of Milford was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to assist with operations at the Benson-Crump Memorial Community Gardens.

“The Benson-Crump Memorial Community Gardens are a tremendous asset to the City of Milford and I’m proud that we will be able to further enhance the property with this funding,” said Mayor Anthony S. Giannattasio. “In government, we are often asked to do more with less, so we go above and beyond to look for non-city sources of funding for projects and investments in the community,” Mayor Giannattasio added.

The funding can be utilized to help with operations, projects, or to provide payroll for a Master Gardener to serve as a resource for garden members.

The City of Milford was made aware of the grant opportunity through Alderman Jason Jenkins (District 1). “Thanks to outreach from numerous residents in the first district, we were able to identify several grant opportunities to assist at the gardens. I appreciate the support from Mayor Giannattasio and his team to apply for and secure this grant. One of the best parts of being an Alderman is having the opportunity to help, this is a good day for the city,” said, Alderman Jenkins.

Located on five acres along the North Street side of Eisenhower Park, the Benson-Crump Memorial Community Gardens program, established in 1968, maintains 135 20’x30’ plots. The Benson-Crump Memorial Community Gardens is a multi-generational and multi-cultural program which provides Milford’s residents with the chance to meet new people, exercise, learn new skills, enrich the environment, and grow healthy and accessible food for themselves, food banks, shelters, local charities, and schools.

The City of Milford and the Department of Recreation remain committed to maintaining one of the best community gardens in the area, if not the State. Recently, the Recreation Department, in conjunction with the community gardeners, finished a large-scale fencing project and provided much needed vegetative maintenance to the area abutting the gardens.

The grant funding is not immediately available, and the Mayor’s Office and Department of Recreation will be coordinating with the State of Connecticut Department of Agriculture to manage the grant.