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Sustainable Urban Farming Student? Apply for a $1,000 Scholarship
- Bob Benenson
- 27 minutes ago
- 1 min read
Award Honors Late Chicago South Side Farmer Mecca Bey
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If you are currently studying sustainable, urban agriculture in an undergrad, graduate or certificate program, you are invited to apply for the 2026 Mecca Bey Memorial Scholarship for Urban Agriculture. One $1,000 scholarship will be awarded.
Applications must be submitted by July 17, with the scholarship awarded on September 18.
I was alerted to this opportunity by Bob Kopach, founder and executive director of
The Eco-Friendly Mobile Farm Stand Project, which donates eco-friendly, gas-free and emissions-free electric mobile farm stands to urban farming organizations that serve those in neighborhoods suffering from food insecurity.
Bob, who received a Climate Action Hero Award from Chicago's Climate Action Museum in April for his innovation concept, said, "We worked closely with Mecca to provide her and Bweza Itaagi at Sistas In The Village with an electric farm stand. We wanted to honor her for all of her incredible work and service to the community." Sistas in The Village is located in the Englewood community on Chicago's South Side.
Mecca Bey was memorialized after her passing in May 2025:
Known as the "soul" of Grow Greater Englewood, she was a vital force in the Illinois farming and food sovereignty communities... Mecca was celebrated for her warm spirit, her passion for healing the community through food, and her relentless dedication to environmental justice and urban agriculture. Her passing was a tremendous loss for the South Side of Chicago, but her legacy continues to thrive through the farmers and youth she mentored."