The Gainesville Garden is proud to serve our community through our youth programs – the future of environmental stability rests in their hands after all! We have several initiatives that encourage children of all ages to appreciate and embrace all nature offers us.

The Gainesville Garden Club's Youth Program focuses on individual schools at various points in time to promote and assist teachers in educating their students on growing gardens. This is a hands-on activity coordinated with the school for a 1-year period to establish and cultivate a garden for the school's use and enjoyment. If your school is interested in developing such a program, please reach out here to get on the list! We will contact you for more information if your school is selected for the next program.

Youth Gardeners

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Wekiva Youth Camp

The Wekiva Youth Camp is an environmental education program begun in 1959 as a Junior Nature Camp where garden club volunteers helped to instill a love, concern, and desire to protect the flora and fauna of our beautiful state of Florida. The camp is owned and operated by Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. (FFGC) in Apopka for students in grades 1-8.

The next Camp Season will run from mid June - July 2025. Camp applications are due by 2 January 2025. If you are seeking Club sponsorship, please fill out the application below by 1 November 2024 to start your child’s journey!

To learn more about Camp Wekiva, go to the website here: Wekiva Youth Camp.

SEEK Conference

S.E.E.K. (Save the Earth’s Environment through Knowledge) is an annual 4-day Environmental Conference for high school students. The conference is sponsored by Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. (FFGC) for the purpose of instilling a love and respect for the REAL Florida in our youth through nature study, conservation, and protection of our environment for the future of our state and planet.

The SEEK conference focuses on student initiative, leadership, and today’s critical environmental issues:

climate change, energy conservation, alternative energy, and sustainability
water quality and quantity (water pollution and water conservation)
loss of wildlife habitat due to deforestation and development

The next Conference will be scheduled in June 2025. Conference registration opens on 1 March 2025. If you are seeking Club sponsorship, please fill out the application below by 1 February 2025 to start your child's journey!

For more about the SEEK Conference, please visit their website: FFGC SEEK

To register after 1 March 2025: FFGC SEEK Registration Form

Academic Scholarships

Gainesville Garden Club believes that the future of our society is in the hands of our young people; education is critical to their success as civic leaders and as stewards of our earth. We are proud to offer scholarships to worthy students entering studies in horticulture, environmental sciences, and other related courses of study. Successful fund-raising events have provided the means for these scholarships in the past and we plan to continue providing them into the foreseeable future.

Midnight Sky Scholarship
Created in honor of Rick Schoellhorn for his lifelong contributions to family, music, community, and sharing his love of nature, this scholarship is dedicated to the continued love and growth of future horticulturalists.

We will be accepting applications for the 2025-2026 terms on 1 February 2025. Deadline for submissions is 1 May 2025. Recipients will be notified in person and listed on the website and our publications in June 2025.

Scholarship Application

Scholarship Instruction Form

*In order to fully utilize the fillable form you will need Adobe Acrobat.

Gainesville Garden C lub

GGC Camp Sponsorship

GGC Conference Sponsorship

Youth Programs