Sproutin Up Corporation

Sproutin' Up's mission is to improve the lives of children, teens and families living in under-resourced neighborhoods in Fort Collins through farming and job-skill training. We do this through a variety of programs offered on our farm which is located within the same neighborhood as our program participants live. Our farm grows food for the Fort Collins community through 20-week vegetable shares. For every share we sell, we donate a share to a family in need, usually a family of one of our youth participants. Over 80% of our participants reside in low-income neighborhoods and qualify for free or reduced lunches in school. 

Our programs include the following:

Apprenticeship Program (ages 9-11): Kids attend a farm program twice a week for two hours each time. They learn about nutrition education, soil science and cooking - all while having fun with our goats, chickens, ducks and each other. Every time they attend the program they earn a $10 stipend for their work. We also spend time educating them about financial literacy as this is the first time many of them are earning money on a regular basis.

Flower Program (ages 12-13): Kids attend the farm twice a week for three hours each time. Kids learn about growing, harvesting and designing flowers for our community. They also learn about the importance and value of philanthropy by donating flower bouquets to local nursing homes. Youth in this program earn $15 stipend for their work.

Internship Program (ages 14-16): Our oldest kids learn how to have their first job on the farm by running the CSA farm program. This involves planting, tending and harvesting plants as well as running our member market. This gives them the opportunity to talk with customers as well as work on writing their resume during our education seminars. Our interns earn high school elective credit from Poudre School District as well as a $30 stipend for every session they work. 

This fall, 2022, we are finishing construction on an outdoor teaching kitchen, located on the farm. This will allow us to feed kids lunch every day they attend a program. We will be able to use vegetables and eggs right from the farm.