Hi, I’m Randy — founder of GrowBuildLearn, a two-time cancer survivor, and the guy that just ran the Hamilton Marathon on November 1st.

Over the years, through my own experience, and working with all kinds of communities, I observed, and learned something about resilience. It’s showing up again, and choosing to keep growing and thriving — even when there's challenges, and resistance.

A few years ago, my family planted a garden, the kids were totally into it. When winter came and the garden died back, we didn’t want to stop, so we bought a small hydroponic unit for the house. My son Santi is on the autism spectrum, and he doesn’t always connect with everything, but the lights, the moving water, the whole sensory experience of that unit just clicked with him. That was my aha moment. I founded GrowBuildLearn to bring growing experiences to Ontario classrooms — so more kids could have that same connection Santi had.

We run 8 week growing programs culminating in a harvest day. Some of our kids eat their first-ever piece of lettuce , at eight years old. It happens almost every time. For a lot of these students, it’s the first time they’ve grown or even really looked at a plant that became their own food. That’s the moment I keep coming back to, and it’s why I’m asking you to help me get more classrooms there.

This fall, I’m fundraising to bring that eight-week program to Ontario schools , schools that couldn’t do this on their own.

Here’s how we do it:

The Hydro-Garden is an indoor growing system that plugs into a standard outlet, no plumbing required — built for classrooms that would otherwise lose their growing season for seven months. Paired with Growbie, our digital companion, and a full STEM curriculum, students grow real food indoors, while learning the science behind it.

Here’s what your gift does:

$50 — Plant a Seed. Supports one student.

$500 — Grow a Row. Supports ten students.

$750 — Share the Work. Provide a 50/50 School matching grant.

$1,500 — Fund the Harvest. Fully funds one classroom’s 8-week program, start to finish.

I'm growing resilience — one classroom, one student, one seed, one kilometre at a time. Help me get there!

Randy