Who was Jan Mathis? Jan was a lifelong educator who had a passion for gardening. She was a founding member of the White Mountain Community Garden (WMCG) and loved sharing her knowledge of gardening with everyone. Jan taught at the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Navajo County Master Gardener program and served as the community forester in the White Mountains. The WMCG board and membership endeavor to carry on Jan’s legacy by offering scholarships in her memory to encourage others to learn to garden.

Purpose: To provide a one season membership in the Healthy Eating and Living Participation Program (HEALP) of the WMCG to individuals who express a desire to learn about gardening, agrees to work as part of a team of gardeners and self identifies as requiring financial assistance to cover the membership fee.

Application Criteria:

• agrees to become a member of a team of their choice in the HEALP garden (Healthy Eating and Living Participation program) and work with a garden mentor

• makes a personal commitment to working in the garden

• self identifies as needing assistance with the membership fee in order to participate

• must be willing to follow the WMCG rules and sign the WMCG and Navajo county release forms

• applicant must be an adult-18 years or older; but application may include family members (up to 3 additional people, including children)

• must write a letter to the WMCG Scholarship committee which will serve as the application for the scholarship. Key components of the letter include introducing themselves, why they want to become part of the WMCG, what they hope to learn, statement of the basis of the applicant’s need for the scholarship, when they are available to work in the garden and any other information the applicants deem important to include in their letter.

Judging Criteria:

• applications will be reviewed and awarded in the order received

• applications will be reviewed by the scholarship committee and presented to the Board

Notification:

• scholarship recipients will be notified by phone call followed by email or letter.

• scholarship begins in June. Recipient will be assigned a garden member mentor to assure their success in the garden.