Alexandria, VA – This year, the American Floral Endowment (AFE) granted over $675,000 in funding to support research, internships, scholarships, and education for the entire floral community, thanks to the generous support of dedicated donors and industry members. As the year comes to a close, please join in celebrating all that has been accomplished together, and consider a contribution to support continuing this great work in 2024.
What a year it’s been! Here’s what contributions helped make possible this year:
1) Research and advancements are key to the industry’s ongoing growth and success. This year, the Endowment was able to fund 12 ground-breaking research projects, including five new projects and seven continuing projects. The projects provide new, innovative solutions to common challenges and continued technological advancement.
2) Education for all remains a key priority. To support and empower the next generation, 30 students were granted scholarships. These scholarships can help alleviate challenges to the industry labor force, as young professionals are now granted the opportunity to pursue careers in floral.
3) Also, in support of education more broadly, 19 organizations received Educational Grants. This funding will help these organizations host conferences, teach students and educators about the floral industry, offer new educational programs, promote sustainability practices, and more.
4) To ensure that future leaders have hands-on experience, 14 of the best and brightest from universities across the nation received internships focusing on floral production, greenhouse management, commercial plant production, and floral design. These students have been working in the industry hands-on and gaining valuable professional experience.
5) Making results, research, and resources digestible for all – AFE hosted 19 free, interactive webinars throughout the year with industry experts. These include monthly Grow Pro Webinars, Young Professionals Council Webinars, and Floral Marketing Fund Webinars, sharing new research findings and resources.
6) Brand new this year, the Thrips & Botrytis Resource Library was launched. This comprehensive library is the result of a special research campaign, established in 2017, to address the control and management of Thrips and Botrytis. It launched recently free to all thanks to the campaign’s generous industry sponsors, whose support made this research possible.
7)The Endowment has also been working diligently on a new sustainability project, Sustainabloom, which will be launching in 2024 with a website providing sustainability guides for all segments of the floral industry. This exciting program, established in 2022, will support the need for continued research around floral sustainable practices and help to increase sustainability efforts overall.
Also in the pipeline for 2024 is the launch of a fully redesigned website to further make all resources accessible, another year of webinars sharing new research findings, and so much more as AFE continues to fund its core programs: research, internships, scholarships, and education.
“With the support of generous donors, the American Floral Endowment has provided for the floral industry for over 60 years,” Debi Chedester, CAE, IOM, AAF, Executive Director said. “By coming together, we can keep providing for and empowering the industry for many more years to come.”
About AFE
The American Floral Endowment is the industry’s trusted source and catalyst for floriculture advancement through funding of innovative research, scholarships, internships, and educational grants that best serve the dynamic needs and demographics of all industry sectors. Help AFE continue to support floriculture programs now and in the future. To learn more about AFE or make a tax-deductible contribution, visit www.endowment.org.
