Edible gardens educate, connect 200K underserved children to fresh, healthy food
Wells
Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today a $2 million grant
to The
Kitchen Community (TKC) to help bring hundreds of innovative,
outdoor Learning Garden Classrooms to thousands of students in
underserved communities nationwide. The contribution represents the
largest corporate donation to the organization.
The philanthropic endeavor also furthers Wells Fargo’s 2020
Environmental Goals to provide $65 million in contributions by 2020
to foster resilient communities, clean technology and innovation, and
environmental education.
The Kitchen Community, founded in 2011 by Chef Hugo Matheson and Kimbal
Musk, reaches 200,000 students every school day with nearly 400
outdoor Learning Garden classrooms in Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Los
Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Memphis, Tenn. “The bank’s contribution
empowers TKC to reach its 2020 impact goal of 1000 schools across 10
cities to reach hundreds of thousands more children in low-income
areas,” said Tighe Hutchins, national director of The Kitchen Community.
“We’re thrilled to work with Wells Fargo to bring more Learning Gardens
to kids across America,” Hutchins said. “We’ll be able to build more
Learning Gardens in more cities that connect kids to real food, the
natural world, and teach them about a key environmental issue of our
time: where their food comes from.”
In addition to introducing fresh, healthy food to children, the outdoor
classrooms serve as edible gardens designed to increase academic
achievement, and drive community engagement. Students, grades K-8, apply
math and science concepts while planting, maintaining, and harvesting
their produce. The Learning Garden beds – customized, modular, and
raised – feature seating and shade, making them conducive to teaching
and learning.
“Without involving school gardens in primary education, we cannot expect
to cultivate the citizens of tomorrow whom will improve the health of
our city ecosystems,” said Musk, CEO and co-founder of The Kitchen
Community.
“We are proud to partner with Wells Fargo in promoting a message of
environmental stewardship, community engagement, and opportunity for
underserved, urban students,” Musk added.
Since 2005, Wells Fargo has integrated sustainability initiatives into
its culture, funding innovative organizations that foster environmental
literacy and a new generation of sustainability leaders.
“The Kitchen Community’s program is already having a huge impact and we
are excited to work alongside the organization to reach even more
students and communities,” said Ashley Grosh, vice president,
environmental philanthropy manager for Wells Fargo.
Through its environmental education grant-making, Wells Fargo promotes
scalable community outreach and education programs, targeting
low-to-moderate-income communities and Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives. The bank’s larger environmental
commitment also focuses on improving its own operational efficiency,
financing renewable energy projects and advancing clean technologies.
About The Kitchen Community
The Kitchen Community (TKC) was established in 2011 by Hugo Matheson and
Kimbal Musk. TKC believes in a future where every child has the
opportunity to play, learn, and grow in healthy communities. To create
healthier environments in underserved schools, TKC builds Learning
Gardens, thriving vegetable gardens and hands-on outdoor classrooms.
Through our Learning Gardens and our school-based programming, TKC seeks
to increase academic engagement and achievement, strengthen the bond
between schools and their communities, and increase kids’ knowledge of
and preference for fresh fruits and vegetables. Today there are hundreds
of Learning Gardens in schools around the United States reaching nearly
200,000 students every day. For more information, please
visit http://tkc.org or follow on Twitter @TheKitchenComm and Instagram
@TheKitchenCommunity.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based
financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s
vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them
succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco,
Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and
consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,500 locations,
13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has
offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct
business in the global economy. With approximately 271,000 team members,
Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells
Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2017 rankings of
America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from
Wells Fargo are also available at Wells
Fargo Stories.