Project Rooted

10/16/2026

Round two at storage! Inventory, organizing, and trying to figure out what we actually have in there. 😂

Sometimes our storage feels like one giant black hole, so we’re always extra grateful when people show up to help us tackle it. There’s a lot to keep track of behind the scenes, and having extra hands makes a big difference!

Thanks Spartans!

10/15/2026

🌱 We're growing, and we're looking for people to help lead the way.

Project Rooted is inviting new members to join our board of directors. If you care about kids, local food, and a community where everyone gets a seat at the table, we'd love to hear from you.

Board members help guide our programs, like The Rooted Box, Local Lunch Club, The Rooted Table, educational programming, and more. They also help us plan for what's next.

You don't need to have served on a board before. We're looking for passion, fresh ideas and a few hours to give each month.

👉 The application takes about 15 minutes: https://projectrooted.com/board-application.html

Know someone who'd be a great fit? Tag them below! 💚

10/14/2026

🌱 Help us grow young learners! 🌱

Every month, Rooted Boxes bring hands-on, local food lessons to 400 first graders across Dubuque. We're looking for volunteers to help make it happen this school year!

📅 Volunteer dates (third Wednesdays):
November 18 • December 16 • January 20 • February 17 • March 17 • April 21 • May 19

⏰ Pick a shift: 9 AM – 11 AM, 11 AM – 1 PM, or 1 PM – 3 PM

👥 Teams welcome! Grab your coworkers, church group, friends, or family. It's a fun, meaningful way to spend a morning or afternoon together.

👉 Sign up here: https://www.volunteerdbq.com/agency/detail/?agency_id=132391
Connecting Kids to Real Food From the Ground Up! 💚

10/12/2026

Two big transitions. One exciting new chapter for Project Rooted!

Today marks a pretty special day for Rooted.

Six years ago, Whitney Sanger helped bring Project Rooted to life with a big idea: connecting kids to real food and helping them understand where their food comes from. What started as an idea has grown into a community-wide effort reaching thousands of kids, thanks to the many people who have believed in this mission along the way.

Today, Whitney is stepping into the role of Executive Director after six years of growing Rooted as a co-founder and volunteer.

And we're excited to share that Chef Andy Mettert is stepping into the role of Board President! Andy brings his passion for food, his experience in the culinary world, and a deep appreciation for the role food plays in bringing people together. Having a chef help lead an organization so rooted in food, kids, and community feels pretty special.

Leadership changes, but the heart of the mission stays the same. We're here to help kids build a connection with real food, support our local food community, and make sure more kids have the opportunity to experience the goodness of food grown close to home.

We're so grateful for everyone who has helped Rooted get here, and we can't wait to see what this next chapter holds. Here's to growing good, together!

10/12/2026

Don't forget to cast your vote for Project Rooted!

Celebrate downtown Dubuque at Dubuque Main Street's annual awards ceremony. Join us to honor excellence; nominate, vote, and attend.

10/10/2026

🍎 Welcome to The Rooted Orchard! 🍎

We went old school at Trunk or Treat with some good ol’ fashioned apple bobbing! 😂 And if you’re wondering who conquered the challenge, just look for the kids with apples in their mouths! 🍏🙌

What a beautiful day to get outside, have some fun, and celebrate fall with our community!

A big thank you to Egelhof, Siegert & Casper Funeral Home & Crematory for hosting such a fun event and letting us be part of it! Also shoutout to Cornerstone Nursery for the donation of mums and pumpkins and Berning Acres for the straw bales.

10/10/2026

🚨🌱 VOTING IS OPEN, AND WE NEED YOUR VOTE! 🌱🚨

Project Rooted has been nominated for a 2026 State of Main Award, and we would LOVE your support!
We’re asking our Dubuque community to take a quick moment TODAY to vote for Project Rooted. Every vote helps shine a light on the work happening to connect kids to real food, support local farmers and bring fresh, local food into our schools.

We are so proud to be part of this community, and this nomination means a lot to us. 💚

🗳️ CAST YOUR VOTE FOR PROJECT ROOTED NOW!
👉 https://www.dubuquemainstreet.org/vote

Please take a moment to vote and share this post with your friends. Help us spread the word and show some love for Project Rooted!

Thank you for growing good with us! 🌱

Celebrate downtown Dubuque at Dubuque Main Street's annual awards ceremony. Join us to honor excellence; nominate, vote, and attend.

10/07/2026

We’ve got quite the crew from the WDHS Fall Service day crew (Western Dubuque Community School District) helping us out today!

Their mission? Tackle our storage unit. And when we say tackle, we mean TACKLE. Boxes, bins, random Rooted treasures from who-knows-when… they’re taking it all on!

The truth is, nonprofits run on people who are willing to jump in and help, and schools, students and volunteers are a HUGE part of keeping Project Rooted moving every day.

So to this crew: THANK YOU for spending your day helping us get organized, making our lives a little easier and giving Project Rooted some much-needed love. We are SO appreciative of you!

10/03/2026

A big shoutout to Cornerstone Nursery for donating pumpkins and mums for our Project Rooted Trunk or Treat at Egelhof, Siegert & Casper Funeral Home & Crematory! 🎃🍂

We’re so grateful for local businesses that help make community events like this happen.

And if you’re looking for some fall fun this weekend, check out Fall Fest. It’s pretty great!

10/03/2026

Would anyone happen to have a few hay bales or mums they’d be willing to donate? We’re doing an apple-themed trunk-or-treat and would love to use them to decorate! 🍎🎃

If you have any we could borrow or donate, please let me know. We’d be so grateful!