We’re Growing with Google!

We have some exciting "digital" seedlings popping up! As your Communications Co-Chair, I am thrilled to announce that the Garden Club of Wiscasset has been officially accepted as a Grow with Google Partner.

What is Grow with Google? Grow with Google is a community education initiative that helps nonprofits like ours gain the digital skills needed to thrive in a modern world. To date, they have helped millions of Americans grow their skills, and 75% of certificate graduates report a positive impact on their work within just six months. By joining this program, our club is now part of a prestigious network of organizations dedicated to keeping our communities relevant, resilient, and connected.

Our New Pilot: "AI Basics to Grow Community Impact" While we are now a partner, I have also submitted an application for 15 Course Scholarships to launch an internal pilot program. These scholarships provide no-cost access to the Google AI Essentials course.

This isn't about robots or coding—it’s a beginner-friendly, 10-hour course designed specifically for non-technical volunteers and busy adults. It is self-paced, online, and requires zero prior experience.

How will this help the Garden Club?

• For the Board: Participants can learn how AI tools could help us draft meeting minutes, summarize guest speaker presentations, organize club records, and complete other administrative tasks in a fraction of the time.

• For Community Outreach: Our committees can use these skills to better

  document and share about the work we do, possibly reaching new members.

• For our Youth: Any remaining licenses will be offered to our student scholarship recipients to give them a professional "edge" as they enter the workforce.
  

The Value to Our Club This partnership brings a massive amount of "In-Kind" value to the Garden Club of Wiscasset:

• $5,000+ in Educational Grants: If our scholarship application is approved 🤞, this covers the professional certification fees for our first 15 "Pioneer Scholars."

• $120,000/year in Google Ad Grants: As a partner, we gain the support to manage up to $10,000 per month in free advertising to promote our plant sales, events, youth programs, and fundraisers.

• Volunteer Growth: We can provide our members with useful skills that bridge the "digital gap," making powerful new tools familiar, fun, and useful.
  

Join Our First "Pioneer" Cohort! If accepted, I'll be looking for 5 more members to join our first group of 10 students (the first 5 members I mentioned this to have already requested to sign up! 🎉). I have a good feeling we'll get it, so I'd like to have a list started.

If you can spend about 10 hours over the next few months learning how to make your club tasks easier, I want to hear from you. No tech experience is required; we will walk through the log-in process and how to access the lessons together.

Interested in becoming a "GCW Pioneer Scholar"?  Please contact me to reserve your spot or ask any questions!

I'm Interested!