Planting New Seeds this Giving Tuesday

Since March, our school building hasn’t bustled with the same energy. Like most of the world, it's been in isolation for most of 2020.

And yet, our community garden continues to flourish. As John Reddick, co-founder of Harlem Link and tender of our garden will tell you, patience, love, and consistency are the key to continued growth in the face of the unpredictable and uncontrollable. We can't shut out the world's problems, but we can always give every seedling individual care and attention, ensuring the enrichment they need to grow strong. And most of all, it takes more than one gardener to care for a garden. It takes every one of us. Every student, every parent, every staff member, every benefactor. And it takes the love and support of an entire community.

2020 has been a time of great upheaval. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Harlem Link built a Virtual School to weather the storm, so that our students can attend school, work with classmates, and see a friendly face in their teachers while safely staying home, or in the security of our school building. The supplementary programs that we pride ourselves on -- including afterschool, our special education social work services, and our alumni network -- have all resumed, thanks to the involvement of donors like you. With your help, we’ve been able to provide over 330 loaner Chromebooks to date to students with tech needs, to ensure all of our students can always access learning, wherever they find themselves currently planted.

This Giving Tuesday may feel different than last year, but some things haven't changed -- we still need your green thumb to help us keep our community growing strong. There's still so much to do, from purchasing additional computers for our students to securing materials to refit our space and make 100% onsite learning safe.

In just 5 minutes, you can help tend our garden by becoming a friend of the garden - create your own fundraising page and help us hit our goal of $40,000. Set your own goals and spread the word to friends and family that they can make a difference too.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time will this take?

As little as 5 minutes! Creating an account is very simple, and once it's set up, you'll have all the tools you need to fund-raise. Of course, if you have a bit more time and would like to customize your own page, that's also an option. It's all up to you!

Will I have to send receipts or thank-you notes when my friends donate?

Nope! Everything is pre-written and automatically generated for you!

What if I don't hit my fundraising goal? Is it on me to make up the difference?

Absolutely not (though we won't stop you). Your goal is your own way to motivate friends and family. Set it to an amount you're comfortable with – it can be as low as $1 or as high as $100,000.

What if I don't want to make my own page, but still want to support Harlem Link?

That's great too! You can always donate directly here; or you can help one of your fellow fundraisers by linking to his or her site. You can also spread the word about our school and what we're trying to accomplish over social media. Every amount, large or small, helps!