This weekend is the official First Day of Spring. And as yards and gardens everywhere start to green up, we’re excited to announce a huge milestone in our work to GroMoreGood everywhere…
We are halfway to our goal of connecting 10 million kids to the benefits of outdoor play and gardening.
We launched this goal back in 2019 as a way to bring more healthy food and safe outdoor play spaces to kids and families in need. It is an enterprise-wide commitment being implemented by our foundation, our company and our brands to bring more good to children’s lives, especially the children who need it the most.
Together, we GroMoreGood
Families across America are beginning to recover from one of our nation’s most difficult years. The ongoing pandemic has created disruption for millions of children and families and has had a compounding effect on those already struggling with food insecurity and lack of access to fresh food and safe outdoor greenspaces. That’s why this spring especially, we want to bring the power of gardening and time outdoors to as many kids as possible.
To do this, we’re partnering with leading nonprofit organizations and other partners across the U.S. to elevate the critical need to connect more kids to gardening and outdoor play. Some of our key partners include Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, KidsGardening, Major League Baseball, National Farm to School Network, National Head Start Association, National Recreation and Park Association and No Kid Hungry.
Our GroMoreGood grantees
As part of the GroMoreGood commitment, we partner with Major League Baseball on the Scotts® Field Refurbishment Program. To date, nearly $2 million has been invested and 25 fields have been revitalized to create greenspaces where kids can get outside, get active and enjoy activities like baseball and softball. The 2021 grant application is currently open. So if you know of a nonprofit organization in need of a new field, encourage them to apply here.
We’re also announcing our 2021 grant recipients with partners KidsGardening and National Head Start Association. Our foundation funds 175 Grassroots Grants annually with KidsGardening to nonprofit organizations across the U.S. to create or enhance youth garden programs in their local communities. From pollinator gardens to outdoor play spaces, edible gardens to therapeutic greenspaces, the Grassroots Grants fund all types of community-driven projects that engage youth. A full list of the winners is available here.
We partner with National Head Start Association to bring more edible gardens to Head Start programs across the country, teaching America’s most at-risk children, families and communities how to grow their own fresh produce. The initiative provides garden grants, garden kits, educational curriculum and garden training, available to all Head Start programs, with the goal of connecting more young children and their families to healthy food. A list of the 2021 grant recipients is available here.
GroMoreGood in your backyard
We want to support all families in growing more good in your own backyards and gardens this spring. As part of that, we’re sharing our GroMoreGood Learning Activities, a set of 72 hands-on lessons to get kids and families gardening and growing together. Based on early childhood best practices, the activities were developed around the four seasons of a garden with the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center. The free lessons are available on our website here.
