Since 1927, the Garden Club of Savannah’s mission has been to assist in the beautification and environmental preservation of Savannah, exemplified by our year-round work to maintain three significant gardens in our area- The Ronald McDonald House, Massie Heritage Center, and the Savannah Botanical Gardens. Our non-profit has awarded over $450,000 to local affiliated organizations over the past seventeen years. We are the oldest active garden club in the state of Georgia. Our history is directly related to the heart of what makes Savannah an outstanding place to live and visit.
The GCS is proud to award funding for grant applicants at the end of our fiscal year, following the NOGS Tour of Hidden Gardens, our sole fundraiser. Each April GCS announces that applications for grants are open and supplies a link via our website, and social media. In order to qualify for a grant, an organization must be a non-profit in good standing and produce a proposal that aligns with our criteria for beautification, education and conservation for projects located within Chatham County, Savannah. They must also include site plans and budget. Grant amounts range in value from $500 to $5000 and are approved by a committee. Committee members communicate with applicants and often do site visits for new applicants to build relationships. Our grants have yielded pollinator gardens at elementary schools, demonstration gardens, trees for the Savannah Tree Foundation, beautification of the entrance to Bonaventure Cemetery through a Master Gardener-led project, created a kitchen garden at the King-Tisdell Cottage, helped to landscape the homeless veteran’s Tiny House Project in partnership with Colonial Dames, developed children’s gardens at the Massie heritage Center and provided monies for historic preservation.
In 1975, the Garden Club of Savannah elected to replace the Christmas tour with a spring tour of gardens limited to the area North of Gaston Street (expanded to North of Gwinnett Street in 2012). This geographic area spans the area from Gwinnett Street north to the Savannah River. The Hidden Gardens Tour is our only fundraiser, which has a 100% active member participation. Funds from the Tour are donated to numerous organizations throughout Savannah.
Sharing the Art of Southern Hospitality with our guests for over 46 years.
Memberships
National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Deep South Region
The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc.
Oleander District-III
Savannah Area Council of Garden Clubs, Inc.
The NOGS Tour is an AWARD-winning event! Our 2022 NOGS Tour garnered both, the Garden Club of Georgia – Public Relations and Special Achievements awards. The club also won first place for our 2022 Yearbook at both state and the Deep South region. These awards both represent the commitment of individual club members to volunteer throughout the year and on the day of the event to make it spectacular. Additionally, our desire to serve and involve the community to share in both the success of the event and the proceeds through our mini-grant program. Grants range in value fro $500 to $5000. Applicants must meet the criteria as well as aligning with our mission to support beautification, education and conservation of Savannah, Georgia.
The Garden Club of Savannah welcomes new members once a year at our May meeting. We recommend the following steps to take in order to explore membership.
- Get to know a member of the GCS.
- This means asking around, contacting us through our facebook and instagram pages or emailing us at nogsgardentour@gmail.com with NEW MEMBER INQUIRY as the subject. If you don’t hear right away, keep trying. We are all volunteers.
- Ask them to invite you to attend a meeting.
- Non-members may attend meetings with a member.
- Volunteer to help with the NOGS Tour in April.
- If interested, ask your GCS friend to sponsor you as a new member. She will have to introduce you to at least two other members who will become co-sponsors.
- As a member you will have certain responsibilities as we are a working club rather than a social club.
- Of course we socialize but we also require participation. People often ask, do I need to be a gardener? The answer is you have to be open to conservation, education and beautification surrounding gardening topics.
- You will be expected to spend several hours in one of our sponsored gardens, to help with the NOGS Tour each year in April, to lead and participate as a committee member to run out monthly meetings and to plan for NOGS and to promote our work in the community by sharing information about our community grants and fundraising efforts.
- Yes, you can be in more than one garden club. Collaboration between clubs is also a great way to reach more people in our community.
- All clubs are members of the Garden Club of GA who promotes having member Master Gardeners. The MGEV program is separate from garden clubs but highly recommended for those interested in leading gardening projects.
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Brick Garden Steps, Photo by Connie McCay
