Amazon donates $270k to Ballard P-Patch, closing fundraising gap

Amazon has just gifted the Ballard P-Patch $270,000 to help close the fundraising gap needed to help save the half-acre community garden.

The 44-year-old Ballard P-Patch has been at risk of losing their small plot when Our Redeemers announced plans to sell the site last year. Our Redeemers has been leasing the plot to the City of Seattle for just $1 per year, for over four decades, but announced plans to sell it last year so they could pay for renovations in the church.

Fundraising kicked off in June 2019, with the gardeners facing a large goal: $1.95 million to save their small slice of heaven of Ballard.

Several large donations and community support over the past year helped the P-Patch move toward their fundraising goal, and the latest financial gift from Amazon has now helped seal the fate of the beloved garden.

“The land will be preserved for generations to come as a place where the public can grow food crops, learn about sustainable gardening practices, enjoy nature, and participate in community events,” The P-Patch organizers wrote in a statement.

GROW, the fiscal sponsor of the P-Patch, purchased the garden this fall from Our Redeemers with a bridge loan from Verity Credit Union. The gardeners say that the gift from Amazon, “assures financing of the loan in full, closes the funding gap, and concludes the garden’s campaign to ‘Give the gnome a home.'”

“Ballard P-Patch is moving forward because of the tremendous, fabulous and amazing support of a wide-range of supporters from hometown Amazon to the taxpayers of Washington and so many neighbors,” Senator Reuven Carlyle said in a statment. “It is a fabulous representation of building community and quality of life for our grandchildren’s grandchildren. I could not be more proud of this partnership for our community’s future.”

In addition to the $270k to the Ballard P-Patch, Amazon also donated $50,000 to GROW, helping support the non-profit’s community food program.

The largest contribution that allowed the purchase of the garden was from a $1.25 million Conservation Futures Tax grant, approved in November by the King County Council. Other funding includes a $250,000 Washington State Community Projects grant and private donations from local foundations, businesses, and over 500 individuals.

“We are so grateful to have received this very generous donation from Amazon,” Ballard P-Patch Leadership Chair Cindy Krueger said. “Preserving this land and this community is a gift that will resound through the City of Seattle for generations to come.”

Photo: Ballard P-Patch in 2019 Syttende Mai Parade