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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Good afternoon,</span><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">My name is Sydney Bilger. I am a senior at Loyola University Chicago, majoring in Environmental Studies and Political Science. I am reaching out
today to see if anyone at your organization is available to discuss your expertise on community gardens.</span><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">For our senior research capstone for the School of Environmental Sustainability, I am working with three other students to examine the interconnection
of community gardens and circular economies. Our project aims to consider how a community garden that demonstrates the characteristics of a circular economy can help address food accessibility in neighborhoods dealing with food insecurity.</span><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">We understand your time is valuable, as you are doing important work in Chicago communities. Our goal is to create a final output that can inform
city officials of the benefits of implementing community gardens under a circular framework. We believe your input would be insightful to this goal. </span><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Thank you for your consideration, and we hope to hear from you.</span><span style="color:#212121;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Best,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sydney Bilger</p>
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