Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation Targets Nutrition Education, Fresh Food Access Amid Pandemic

PHOENIX, Oct. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As schools and students across the country adapt to new ways of learning, community efforts to create a more equitable food system are gaining momentum. , which focuses on nutrition education and fresh food access, today announced $1.6 million in donations to nonprofit partners addressing local issues amplified by the pandemic.

"Five years ago, we established the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation to increase our ability to support local organizations that share our vision of bringing healthy, nutritious food to all," said Lyndsey Waugh, executive director of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. "These organizations have taken tremendous steps to adapt their programs amidst COVID-19, redirecting efforts to support the immediate need of the children and communities they serve right now and exploring new and innovative ways to deliver programming virtually. We are working hand-in-hand with many of our partners to make these important transitions possible."

School and community gardens are ramping up their growing and food distribution efforts, providing local residents with greater access to healthy food during the pandemic. "When our student-centered teaching farms felt the impact of COVID-19, we knew we had to pivot and we had to do it quickly," said Amanda Storey, executive director of the Jones Valley Teaching Farm in Birmingham, Ala. "With support from our school partners and from funders like Sprouts, we turned our teaching farms into production farms and began distributing free produce and seedlings to our local community, resulting in over 15,000 pounds of fresh vegetables being distributed since April."

This year, Sprouts' Foundation will award 120 grants to nonprofit organizations in the 23 states where the company operates, including 113 Neighborhood Grants and seven high-impact grants designed to help partners strengthen and expand their programs, totaling $1.6 million.

Neighborhood Grant recipients include:

• (San Francisco) - The Cooking Matters at Home program will provide fresh groceries and six-week virtual cooking classes to 120 kids and parents through the fall/spring school year.
  
  
  
  
• (Phoenix) - The Fresh Connections program will provide 400 food-insecure children with locally grown, fresh produce, distributed through assembled take-home bags this fall.
  
  
  
  
• (Atlanta) - Project Giving Garden will grow, harvest and distribute produce to up to 1,000 families weekly through the collaborative effort of Captain Planet Foundation and Metro-Atlanta's more than 400 school and community gardens.
  
  
  
  
• (Charlotte, N.C.) - The Healthy School Mobile Pantries for Food-Insecure Families travels to high-need elementary schools and will provide an estimated 3,200 individuals with to access fresh produce, meat and dairy during the fall/spring school year.

For a full list of Neighborhood Grant recipients by state, visit .

As school districts nationwide navigate distance learning and hybrid return-to-school models, outdoor educators and the physical spaces they support on campuses are proving to be an important asset. "Outdoor educators understand how to translate classroom concepts into engaging, hands-on experiential lessons," explained John Fisher, director of outdoor education at Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Life Lab. "Now, instead of translating classroom to garden, outdoor educators across the country are helping their teacher counterparts bring school lessons to the home virtually, ensuring students are engaged in learning, which is critical in preventing students from falling behind. And, as schools reopen, outdoor learning spaces will provide teachers with additional spaces for small-group or split-class instruction."

High Impact Grant recipients include:

• (SGSO) - Life Lab (Nationwide): COVID-19 Response Programming - SGSO Network, the nation's largest peer-to-peer learning network for school garden educators, is offering an expanded lineup of virtual gatherings, webinars and resources to help school garden organizations deliver distance teaching, provide social emotional support to students, and care for garden sites during COVID-19.
  
  
  
  
• (Birmingham, Ala.): Good School Food Virtual Experience – The food-based learning organization offering community farming at seven schools will distribute produce to local food insecure families and offer virtual afterschool programs that bring cooking and nutrition education to elementary school students at home.
  
  
  
  
• (Austin, Texas): The grant will support the creation of a new professional development program for teachers, a summer camp, and expand capacity of the organization's new youth teaching kitchen.

For a full list of existing and new High Impact Grant recipients, visit .

"Since 2015, we've awarded $12 million in grants to a broad network of nonprofit organizations that are now on the frontlines of educating and feeding people impacted by the pandemic," said Waugh. "Their efforts are inspiring, and the effects of their work will be long-lasting, particularly as we all work together to capture the learnings and innovation sparked by COVID-19 and use that knowledge to strengthen local fresh food access for the future."

Sprouts covers 100 percent of the Foundation’s operational expenses, ensuring that every dollar raised is used to support their nonprofit partner agencies. To learn more, visit .

About Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.

Sprouts is the place where goodness grows. True to its farm-stand heritage, Sprouts offers a unique grocery experience featuring an open layout with fresh produce at the heart of the store. Sprouts inspires wellness naturally with a carefully curated assortment of better-for-you products paired with purpose-driven people. The healthy grocer continues to bring the latest in wholesome, innovative products made with lifestyle-friendly ingredients such as organic, plant-based and gluten-free. Headquartered in Phoenix, and one of the fastest growing retailers in the country, Sprouts employs more than 35,000 team members and operates more than 350 stores in 23 states nationwide. To learn more about Sprouts, and the good it brings communities, visit .

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: