Wow! Thanks to the incredible support of Whole Foods Market team members, shoppers and our dedicated community of supporters, we raised $3.18 MILLION DOLLARS to support school gardens, educational bee hives, salad bars and healthy teachers programming in all 50 states, Canada, and the U.K.
Your support has helped us serve almost 6 million kids since 2011 - and we're just getting started.
What will 3.18 million dollars do for kids in the U.S., Canada and U.K.?
- 1,000 schools
- 500,000 students choosing healthy food
- 600 educational learning gardens
- 100 bee hive grants
- 400 salad bars
- 2000 healthy teachers ready to be trained
The recipients cover almost all 50 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces, providing educational opportunities around agriculture, ecology, nutrition and business for 500,000 students. Created in partnership with FoodCorps, the School Garden Grant program provides a $2,000 grant to a K-12 school or nonprofit organization to support an edible garden on school grounds. Whole Kids Foundation’s Extended Learning Garden program provides a $2,000 grant to a nonprofit children’s programming organization, working with children ages K-12, to support an edible educational garden in a non-school environment such as children’s hospitals or after-school programs.
Gardens are becoming an increasingly common educational tool and for good reason: school gardens are shown to improve children’s behavior and performance at school and improve their attitudes about and appreciation for the environment. Additionally, only two percent of children eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables, but children who have a hand in growing food are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables and to be more knowledgeable about nutrition.
