WATSONVILLE, Calif. – Forty fresh produce industry professionals rode into the Whole Foods Market Sandy Springs parking lot on Thursday Oct. 22 to celebrate a 4-day, 300-mile bike ride from Hickory, N.C. to Atlanta in support of Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools. Welcomed by event sponsors, industry leaders and local shoppers, riders were greeted with cheers and high fives as the crowd anxiously awaited the announcement of total funds raised by the participants of Tour de Fresh in its second year.
Cindy Jewell, Vice President of Marketing at California Giant Berry Farms, announced at the Finish Line Ceremony that the event raised $150,000, surpassing last year’s $142,000 fundraising efforts. Earning more than $50,000 in the last week of the event, Jewell stated that she was confident that the event would continue to bring in funds throughout the next couple weeks in order to meet the 2015 goal of $195,000, which would place approximately 60 salad bars in schools across the country. Since the Finish Line Ceremony, Tour de Fresh has raised an additional $10,000 in cash and checks, bringing the total to more than $160,000.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group of industry professionals who have taken their own personal time to become so actively involved in raising money for salad bars in schools,” said Jewell. “We’re so thankful to everyone who has supported these riders, and hope to continue to grow our fundraising efforts in order to provide access to fresh fruits and vegetables to thousands of children across the country.”
Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, led by the United Fresh Start Foundation, has facilitated donations to more than 4,100 schools across the country in the last five years, providing enough salad bars to benefit more than three million students every day. The partnership between Tour de Fresh and Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools offers the produce industry an opportunity to be directly involved in supporting its own industry for the benefit of others – something that means the world to these riders and brand supporters.
“As we look into planning for next year’s Tour de Fresh, we will be relying on sponsor and rider feedback to develop an even better event for 2016 and subsequent years,” said Brock Nemecek, Account Director at DMA Solutions, Inc. and member of the Tour de Fresh Steering Committee. “It was such a pleasure to be a part of this group of riders, knowing that every one of them had a heart to serve the next generations, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”
Tour de Fresh would not be possible without the support of its Premier Sponsors Bard Valley Natural Delights, California Giant Berry Farms, CHEP, iTradeNetwork, Lipman, NatureSweet, ONEONTA, SUNSET, Tanimura & Antle and Tsamma, and additional sponsors AndNowUKnow, Birko, Blendtec, Church Brothers, Dole, EBX Logistics, Hort Americas, Infinite Gold by Sakata, New Sprout, Pajaro, REC Solar, Renaissance Food Group, Titan Farms, Total Quality Logistics, USA Pears, The Vision Companies, Whole Foods Market, Whole Kids Foundation and Xiant.
Official footage of the event can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtWCrjevUvQ, while additional opportunities to support this year’s Tour de Fresh is located on the Riders page.
For more information, please visit www.tourdefresh.com and follow Tour de Fresh on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Tour de Fresh
Tour de Fresh, presented by The California Giant Foundation, is the first-of-its-kind, collaborative event that unites the most significant brands and influencers in the fresh produce industry for a four-day cycling event that raises funds to benefit the Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools campaign. The inaugural event, in 2014, raised over $142,000 and placed over 40 salads bars in communities in 11 states including California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The goal of the 2015 Tour de Fresh and its participants is to privately finance 100+ new salad bars in school districts across the country. At a cost of less than $3,000 per salad bar per school, sponsors and participants alike strongly believe that providing healthy eating opportunities for school children should be a requirement.
About Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools
Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools is a public health campaign to increase salad bars in schools across the country so that every child has the choice of healthy fruits and vegetables every day at school. Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools supports First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation. Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools founding partners are: The United Fresh Start Foundation, National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, the Chef Ann Foundation and Whole Kids Foundation. More information can be found online at www.saladbars2schools.org.
Source: Tour de Fresh
