Lynn Community Impact operates a 65-bed garden south of Northwest 63rd Street and Shartel Avenue on Expand Energy’s Oklahoma City campus under a five-year renewable lease signed in 2023. The nonprofit describes the garden as a partnership with Expand Energy, formerly Chesapeake Energy, according to Lynn Community Impact.
The garden combines food production with public programming, including gardening workshops, cooking and nutrition education, volunteer activities and family events, according to the organization. The Journal Record reported that the site produces and donates more than 15,000 pounds of produce annually, with the harvest delivered each month to five Oklahoma City food-distribution sites.
Lynn also uses the site for youth programming. Its CREW program—short for Character, Responsibility, Education and Wellbeing—offers gardening, basic cooking and relationship-building activities for teens involved in the juvenile justice system. In October 2024, the organization added CREW Connections for detained young women at the Oklahoma County Juvenile Detention Center; an Arnall Family Foundation grant supports the youth work.
Expansion plans
The nonprofit is also working with the Crossroads Renewal Project and Santa Fe Charter Schools on a proposed multimillion-dollar garden and learning site. As reported by The Journal Record, the concept would include spaces for events, food production, children’s gardening, instruction and cooking demonstrations. FFA students from Santa Fe Charter Schools are expected to participate in agricultural education and entrepreneurship activities, while residents could receive instruction on growing food at home and in their neighborhoods.
A broader food-access network
The garden’s reported donations are part of a larger food-access challenge, but statewide and countywide measures do not by themselves describe conditions at the Expand Energy site. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, more than 15% of Oklahoma households are food insecure. The Union-Recorder reported in 2016 that CommonWealth Urban Farms, which had operated in Oklahoma City since 2011, combined small-scale organic produce production with community and educational programming—an earlier model distinct from Lynn Community Impact’s donation-focused garden. The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma reported distributing a record 16.8 million pounds of fresh produce in 2025, nearly 29% of its total distribution, through a 53-county service area and more than 1,300 partners. That network provides broader context for the local sites receiving Lynn’s harvest, although the figures do not measure the garden’s individual effect.
The garden work follows a broader change in the organization’s role. Founded in July 1997 as a research nonprofit honoring physician Thomas N. Lynn, the organization later moved toward community health initiatives. Its Lynn Healthy Community–NE OKC effort began in 2016 as a 10-year plan addressing health disparities in Northeast Oklahoma City, according to Lynn Community Impact.
The former Lynn Institute announced the name Lynn Community Impact on Aug. 31. The Journal Record reported that Lisa Buck became president and CEO on June 15, succeeding Stephen Petty, who retired after eight years. Buck’s background includes work as Oklahoma’s first foster care ombudsman, community mental health experience and service on state and philanthropic boards. The organization is scheduled to mark the rebrand at its sixth annual Lynn Legacy event on Oct. 29, according to The Journal Record.
