Each year, up to four individuals or organizations, one from each of the following categories, receive a one-year membership to New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, a Certificate of Greening, professional hand pruners, and recognition at our Annual Meeting in June.   

2026 Nominations are open.

2025 Community Greening Awardees

Berlin Community Garden
The Berlin Community Garden puts community first. This garden has been serving families in and around Berlin, MA, for 12 years. Plots are available free of charge to those in need and produce is donated weekly to local food pantries, including BC4T, a pantry serving veterans. All gardeners commit to using organic techniques and plots are celebrated for their creative designs. Participants also come together for a seed and seedling swap at the beginning of the season. The Berlin Community Garden thrives on growing connections.

Clark Street Community School Garden
Worcester’s Clark Street Community School Garden grew as a passion project for educator Charlene Preston, who, many years ago, began a regular Wednesday gardening club at the elementary school. Well-loved and attended by students, the gardening club at Clark Street Community School has expanded over the years. Students now tend five raised beds, a pumpkin patch, multiple fruit trees, and a native plant pollinator garden. They also maintain beautiful bulbs around the school. Through gardening, students at the Clark Street Community School learn lessons on how to grow their own food, witness the power of gardens to transform spaces, and experience the joys of getting their hands dirty.

Gardening the Community
Gardening the Community, a food justice organization founded 23 years ago in Springfield, MA, addresses hunger in neighborhoods with limited access to fresh produce and empowers youth as leaders in their communities. Youth learn and practice methods of sustainable urban agriculture by growing fruits and vegetables in vacant lots in the city. Produce is sold at the organization’s farm store where they accept SNAP and HIP. Through Gardening the Community, youth gain not only gardening skills, but also deeper knowledge of the ways institutionalized racism impacts food access and the power of community in driving social change.

Pine Hill Meadow Garden
The Pine Hill Meadow Garden in Southborough, MA, was founded five years ago in response to the growing problem of food insecurity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pine Hill Meadow Garden collaborates with Rachel’s Table and other nonprofit organizations and food pantries in the Worcester area to distribute fresh, healthy food. They pride themselves on growing crops that are culturally relevant to the region’s diverse communities. A sustainable solar panel water pump system used to water crops also ensures that the Pine Hill Meadow Garden is caring for people and planet. In only a few short years, this entirely volunteer-run garden has provided more than 5 tons of produce to the community.

The Town of Oxford
The Town of Oxford excels at embedding environmental stewardship and sustainability into aspects of municipal work and community life. In 2024, the town’s Pollinator Team led a multifaceted campaign to create pollinator habitat and build awareness about the benefits of native plants. They hosted and collaborated on community events, festivals, and educational programs, supported student-led research on how to better serve pollinators on town land, planted pollinator gardens, promoted “low mow” pollinator meadows, and more. In addition to their pollinator-focused work, the town, through the Department of Public Works, also constructs rain gardens on municipal properties, supports residents with a rain barrel program, and runs campaigns to educate the community about stormwater pollution.