🌱 A Garden Grows a Champion: Ian Thompson Honored with 2025 Community Foundation Award
When communities flourish, they're built—quite literally—by hands in the soil. Ian Thompson, founder and operations coordinator of Lower Columbia School Gardens, since 2009 has spent years turning schoolyards across Longview into vibrant, living classrooms. Now, his dedication has earned him the 2025 Community Champion Award from the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington.
Cultivating Community Through School Gardens
What began as a volunteer effort in his children’s school garden blossomed into a regional nonprofit connecting hundreds of kids and families with nature, nutrition, and sustainable food production. Through hands-on experience, students:
Learn to grow, harvest, and cook their own food.
Build self-esteem by designing garden beds, planting vegetables, and using real tools.
Develop lifelong habits of environmental stewardship and healthy eating.
As Ian reflects, empowering children through gardening is about more than plants—it nurtures confidence, community, and care for the earth.
Ian receiving the award joined by Matt Morton, president of Community Foundation of Southwest Washingon and Jane Tesner Kleiner, program manager of Lower Columbia Nature Network and Nature+Play Designs
Recognizing a Champion
On June 3, at the Foundation’s Annual Luncheon in Vancouver, WA, Ian was honored as the Community Champion of 2025—a tribute reserved for individuals who tackle the region’s most pressing challenges through sustained, impactful engagement.
The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington also recognized other exceptional local leaders:
Kate Jones and Marty Rifkin – 2025 Philanthropists of the Year
Lisa Lowe – 2025 Friend of the Foundation
Growing Deeper Roots
Thanks in part to grants from the Foundation, Lower Columbia School Gardens has expanded from a single patch to a network reaching multiple schools.
These gardens now offer:
Rich STEM and nutrition education
Spaces for families to gather and learn together
A living model of sustainability in practice
Looking Ahead
With continued support, Lower Columbia School Gardens is poised to:
Expand programming to more schools and neighborhoods
Deepen partnerships with local educators and organizations
Instill lifelong environmental ethics and healthy habits in future generations
Support the mission:
Donate to Lower Columbia School Gardens
Give through the Community Foundation
Want to get involved?
Visit the Volunteer Page to learn how you can help.
Congratulations, Ian!
Your work reminds us that when you plant a seed—whether in soil or in a child’s heart—amazing things can grow. Your leadership is an inspiration to the entire southwest Washington community.
