$10K grant from TD Bank helps grow FREEdom Garden

FREE, an Old Bethpage-based nonprofit, will receive a $10,000 grant from the TD Bank Foundation to expand its agriculture program.

The grant will be used to expand the FREEdom Garden, which provides a work readiness program that gives individuals hands-on agricultural skills that can prepare them for a variety of employment opportunities.

“FREE would like to thank TD Bank Foundation for their support in helping to deliver critical programs and services” Robert S. Budd, CEO of FREE, said in a written statement. “We look forward to having our partners at TD Bank Foundation visit the FREEdom Gardens this fall to see the incredible work being done.”

FREE (Family Residences and Essential Enterprises) benefits and supports more than 4,000 individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities, mental illness and traumatic brain injury.

“Giving back to the communities we serve is critically important to TD, and one way we do that is by partnering with organizations like FREE to open doors for everyone,” Anthony Esernio, market president for suburban New York at TD Bank, said in the statement. “We are proud to support the incredible work FREE does to prepare people in the New York area for a career in agriculture and improve their financial security.”