SUNNY BUG FARMETTE FUND
in memory of Sunia Baker-Breningstall
About Sunia
Sunia was an artist and a passionate advocate for nature and gardening. Inspired by her mother, a Colorado Master Gardener, she delighted in studying and painting plants and insects. Despite facing significant health challenges, she delighted in studying plants and insects, even contributing to a pollinator garden at Denver Academy. Sunia’s kindness shone through as she shared her knowledge of art & nature with others, encouraging them to appreciate the beauty of the natural world. She gave herself the nickname Sunny Bug, which is now the name of her parent’s beautiful gardens today.
About the Fund
Starting in 2025, Slow Food Denver received a scholarship fund from Donna Baker-Breningstall in honor and memory of her daughter, Sunia. This annual gift allows Slow Food Denver to grow and adapt programming in our Seed to Plate program, expanding hands-on cooking and gardening education for children and youth of all abilities.
Sunia’s legacy lives on through the Sunnybug Farmette Fund, which provides adaptive programming for students with developmental differences and disabilities in local Denver classrooms, empowering young chefs to build self-confidence, lifelong healthy habits, and essential self-sufficiency skills.
Seed to Plate Classes
for children with developmental & adaptive differences
Through the Seed to Plate program, youth of all abilities are empowered and inspired by their relationship to food, becoming self-assured young chefs and gardeners with lifelong eating habits that are healthy and informed.
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Through Spring 2026, Seed to Plate programming supported students with developmental and adaptive needs across:
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Rocky Mountain Prep Noel Middle School
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Rocky Mountain Prep SMART High School
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Kepner Beacon Middle School (Multi-Intensive & Multi-Intensive Severe programs)
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Northeast Early College (Transitional programs for ages 18–21 focusing on job & self-sufficiency skills)
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South High School (9th–12th grade Multi-Intensive & Multi-Intensive Severe programs – recipient of a $5,000 grant for three 6-week terms)
Looking Ahead: 2026–2027 School Year & Beyond
Beginning in Fall 2026 and continuing through 2027, the Sunnybug Farmette grant will expand to support adaptive Seed to Plate classes for students with disabilities across six partner schools:
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Rocky Mountain Prep Noel Middle School
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Rocky Mountain Prep Federal Middle School
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Kepner Beacon Middle School
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South High School
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Northeast Early College (18–21 year-olds in transitional self-sufficiency programs)
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John F. Kennedy High School (18–21 year-olds in transitional self-sufficiency programs)