Grants and Scholarship

The Herb Society of America-Wisconsin Unit is proud to support greater Milwaukee area public gardens in the form of annual grants. Gardens we sponsor and/or support are:

The Herb Garden at Boerner Botanical Gardens. Annually our grant funds purchase plants, seeds, and shrubs for the Herb Garden, as well as items for the garden’s annual theme-based displays. In the past, our funds have been used for signage, reproduction of a historic bird bath, concrete planters, decorative trees, and the refurbishing of a boxwood hedge.

Old World Wisconsin. The Unit supports various historical gardens and garden-related projects at Wisconsin’s largest outdoor museum, including funding for: the development of the Sanford House Herb Garden; construction of two historic garden watering machines; the historical Teaching Garden at the entrance to the museum and in 2018 signage in this garden; the planting of additional rose bushes near Clausing Barn; terracing a sloped bank at the Danish immigrant family farm; enhanced the landscape and garden at the Hessian immigrant farm; and supported the 1860s Norwegian Farm with the purchase of herbs, perennials and shrubs that can be used for dyeing projects.

Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens. The Unit has given grant monies to provide Milwaukee Public School third and fourth graders the opportunity to participate in four, hands-on learning sessions in garden plots at Boerner Botanical Gardens. These sessions started in 2005 as the “Plant Hope” project and teach students plant biology, soil preparation, and the planting and harvesting of flowers, herbs, and vegetables.

The Grants program is funded by proceeds from the Unit’s Annual Herb & Artisan Fair held in mid-May at Boerner Botanical Gardens.

Scholarship

The Herb Society of America-Wisconsin Unit is proud to offer an annual $1,000 scholarship to a qualified student from either

  • Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) enrolled in associate degree programs in Culinary Arts, Culinary Management, and Baking and Pastry Arts,  or
  • Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC), enrolled in Culinary Management and Baking and Pastry Management .

To qualify for the scholarship, the student must have completed 15 credits in the degree program, have a minimum 3.0 grade point average, and have “hands on” culinary or baking/pastry experience as either a volunteer or paid employee. The scholarship money must be used for tuition and books and is not to pay off student loans, the purchase of equipment, or off-campus courses.

The scholarship recipient will be asked to volunteer from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Unit’s Annual Herb Fair held at Boerner Botanical Gardens in mid-May, and the recipient must also agree to speak briefly at the Unit’s monthly meeting held the third Tuesday in January.

For Milwaukee Area Technical College student application:  Scholarship-App-MATC-2023

For Waukesha Area Technical College student application:  Scholarship-App-WCTC-2023

Deadline for the 2023 scholarship application is May 26, 2023.

For further information about the scholarship and details on the application process, please email your interest/questions to Lore Borth at borthlore@att.net, or text your questions to 414-881-0412.

The Scholarship is funded by proceeds from the Unit’s Annual Herb Fair held in mid-May at Boerner Botanical Gardens. 

Our 2022 Scholarship Winner Jensen Kapla at our 2023 HSA Symposium: