Nominate an Arizona elementary school to receive a $3,000 learning gardens courtesy of Dole, Bashas’ and Food City
Calling all green thumbs! Here is your chance to win a learning garden for your favorite elementary school in Arizona, courtesy of Dole Packaged Foods and Bashas’ and Food City supermarkets.
Now through Feb. 28, Arizona residents can fill out an application online to nominate their favorite K-5 school in the state (located within a 10-mile distance of a Bashas’ or Food City grocery store) for a chance to receive a learning garden at bashas.com or captainplanetfoundation.org/contest/bashas.
Two elementary schools will receive the comprehensive Captain Planet Foundation Project Learning Garden program, valued at $3,000. The Learning Garden comes complete with a raised bed garden, lesson kits, schoolyard garden supplies, a fully equipped garden cooking cart, and strategies for garden maintenance. If the school already has a garden, it is still eligible to enter for a chance to win a garden expansion package. (Maldonado Elementary School in Tucson and Holdeman Elementary School in Tempe each received the Captain Planet Foundation Learning Garden prize last year.)
“Dole is all about ‘Sunshine for All’ – good, healthy food should be more like sunshine – available for all,” said Laura Pedersen, Sales Director, Dole Packaged Foods. “What better way to provide good, nutritious food than through a learning garden. We are thrilled to be partnering with Captain Planet Foundation and Bashas’ and Food City grocery stores for a sixth year to grant these learning gardens to Arizona elementary schools.”
The Learning Garden program provides a context for multidisciplinary learning, ranging from nutrition and science to social studies, math, and language arts. Students benefit by expanding their palates, taste-testing healthy foods, and learning about food origins.
“Anything can be taught in the context of the garden, and this hands-on learning helps students understand how to grow food and eat more healthily,” said Leesa Carter-Jones, President & CEO of Captain Planet Foundation. “Captain Planet Foundation engages and empowers young people to be problem solvers for the planet – and we are thrilled to be working with Dole, Bashas’ and Food City to provide two lucky elementary schools in Arizona with the learning garden program.”
The two elementary schools selected to receive learning gardens will be notified and announced in March.
“This annual partnership is such a joy,” said Ashley Shick, Director of Communications & Public Affairs for Bashas’ Family of Stores. “We are grateful for community and education focused organizations like Dole and the Captain Planet Foundation and their commitment to providing hands-on food exploration for youth. Knowing where food comes from is a critical component of making healthier choices throughout life and this program allows students of all ages to explore this concept first-hand.”
About Dole Packaged Foods
Dole Packaged Foods LLC, a subsidiary of Dole International Holdings, is a leader in growing, sourcing, distributing, and marketing fruit, vegetables, and healthy snacks throughout the world. Dole markets a full line of innovative packaged, frozen, and dried fruit. The company focuses on four pillars of sustainability in all of its operations including: water management, carbon footprint, soil conservation, and packaging. For more information, visit: dolesunshine.com or doleintlcsr.com.
About Bashas Family of Stores
Bashas’ Family of Stores – the family-owned grocer that operates Food City, AJ’s Fine Foods, Eddie’s Country Store, and both Bashas’ and Bashas’ Dine supermarkets – is an Arizona-based company. With more than 100 grocery stores, it is one of the largest employers in the state and one of the Best Places to Work in Arizona. Since the company’s inception in 1932, Bashas’ has given back more than $100 million to the communities it serves. For more information, visit: www.bashas.com.
About Captain Planet Foundation (CPF)
Based on the critically acclaimed animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, **CPF was co-founded in 1991 by media mogul Ted Turner and series executive producer Barbara Pyle as a corporate foundation of TBS. In 2002, Captain Planet Foundation separated from TBS and became a 501(c)3 public charity, with the mission to work collaboratively to engage and empower young people to be problem solvers for the planet. CPF executes its mission both as a program operator and as a grant-maker.
During the past 30 years, more than 1.6 million children have directly participated in CPF’s programs, which have funded 3,300+ projects, impacting 10.5 million young people. CPF’s operating programs include: Project Learning Garden, which has provided 530+ U.S. elementary schools with onsite learning laboratories and healthy food access; Project Hero, which is a nationwide, web-based learning platform for K-12 students to save locally threatened and endangered species & ecosystems; Project Giving Gardens, which puts school gardens and young urban gardeners to work in the summer months to provide fresh, organically-managed produce to food banks and food pantries; and Planeteer Alliance, a global network of young people who are putting their passion and impatience for change into action for the planet. For more information: www.captainplanetfoundation.org
