Gig Harbor Garden Tour

Literacy Grants

2026

The Gig Harbor Garden Tour is a ‘Tour for Literacy.’  All proceeds from our annual garden tour are awarded as grants to school and community groups advancing literacy.  We recently awarded $28,000  from the June, 2026 Gig Harbor Garden Tour to 18 Community and school groups.

We are not experts on literacy work but we recognize the importance of helping ensure young children all learn to read and we put books in children’s hands to encourage a lifetime habit of reading.  We also give a nod to other forms of literacy.

 We support Pediatrics NW’s Reach out and Read program that gives 0-6 year olds books at annual Wellness Visits as part of their parenting skills lessons. We also provide books that are distributed by the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula libraries during summer reading programs for school age readers.  We provided books for  a school district Young Authors Conference for middle school students

We awarded 13 grants to 7 different schools, Curious by Nature, Discovery, Henderson Bay, Purdy, Swift Water, Vaughn, and Voyager.  Three of the grants fund books for all school, one book reading programs, one supports an all school Literacy Night.  We are supporting an after school tutoring program.  Other grants provide math manipulatives for a preschool, special classroom literacy materials for high interest, differentiation of instruction, special reading groups, and a new district reading program.

We support Gig Harbor AAUW’s summer science camp for middle school girls.  We also are supporting a new exhibit at the Harbor History Museum to teach object literacy.

Although not large, each of these grants are enthusiastically received and we hope make a big difference in small places.