Victory V. Lee was born on September 7, 1949 and passed away on Thursday, February 4, 2016.

Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project’s (ANV) Victory V. Lee Award for Excellence annually recognizes the current year’s “outstanding service to the community”, beginning in 2017. It is awarded to members of the ANV community who have gained the attention of the organizations staff and Board of Directors and who exemplify the values that ANV holds dear: Courage, Integrity and Commitment, as well as our creed: “Deeds, Not Words”.

The award is named for Ms. Victory V. Lee, an educator, community member and urban farmer. Founder of the Victory Garden Foundation in 2008, Ms. Lee’s commitment to urban agriculture has impacted thousands of individuals. From the elementary school gardens and urban farms that she started and maintained, to the annual Victory Garden Challenge for Community Resilience, which was created to “inform, inspire, and support people to ‘improve the quality of life in and around the garden.’”

Throughout ANV’s friendship and partnership with Ms. Victory, her passion for growing both plants and humans was evident.

She was always ready to lend a hand, give advice and share resources with anyone willing to ask and the share those same qualities and resources on to the next individual and organization who asked.

For this reason, Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project is proud to name it’s highest award the Victory V. Lee Award for Excellence with permission from her son, Sean Higgins.

 

All who receive this award have shown their commitment to equity, hard work and love of community.