Announcing the Giff and Mary Jones Endowment Fund for the Acquisition or Preservation of Urban Open Space and/or Community Gardens

By Elizabeth Gray

Mary Jones was a gardener long before moving to Seattle more than 30 years ago. For the past 20 years, she has been gardening with her partner, Giff, at the Eastlake P-Patch. Mary and Giff also garden at the Mesa Harmony Garden, a collective garden in Santa Barbara, California, which, like their Seattle P-Patch, also supports a food bank. The Joneses are big proponents of land preservation, and support The Nature Conservancy, as well as educational and nature-oriented nonprofits in their home states of Washington and California.

Last summer, Giff and Mary approached GROW President Eric Todderud, a fellow Eastlake P-Patch gardener, with the idea of making a significant contribution to GROW for the purchase of land to build a new P-Patch garden. A series of conversations led to exceptional gifts from the Joneses, including the establishment of GROW's first endowment, which provides resources to stabilize the organization, preserve urban space in Seattle, and possibly create a P-Patch if such an opportunity arises.

The gift proposal prompted GROW to create an Endowment Advisory Committee and write an Endowment & Related Investment Policy. GROW now has a Bequest Intention Form for those who wish to notify the board of their intent to leave a legacy to GROW in their will or estate plans. 

The Endowment Advisory Committee is already guiding the dream of creating a more stable future for GROW. Special thanks to Giff and Mary for being a part of that committee, providing a very special first gift to establish this endowment, and for their willingness to talk about why they support GROW. To see their video interview with Joyce Moty (also an amazing source of information and support for GROW’s programs and gardens) please watch this short clip.    

For more information, please contact:

Elizabeth Gray, Co-Treasurer for GROW, Elizabeth.g@grownorthwest.org or

Eric Todderud, attorney and President of GROW, Eric.t@grownorthwest.org