UNION SPRINGS, Ala. — As part of the ongoing Grow More. Feed More. initiative, Bonnie Plants announced a $50,000 donation to AmpleHarvest.org, a nonprofit organization that makes it easy for home gardeners to connect with local food pantries to donate surplus homegrown produce.
“We are grateful for the sustained and growing impact this generous donation will have for years to come,” said AmpleHarvest.org founder Gary Oppenheimer. “By helping to expand AmpleHarvest.org’s increasing network of food pantries, the donation from Bonnie Plants is estimated to result in more than 4 million servings of fresh produce donated over the span of five years*.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic created overwhelming demands for food pantries nationwide, Bonnie Plants partnered with AmpleHarvest.org to launch the Grow More. Feed More. initiative to inspire home gardeners to plant their own victory garden with a goal of donating a total of 10 million pounds of homegrown harvest to help those in need. While food pantries consistently lack access to fresh produce, the average home gardener grows 240 pounds of surplus vegetables per year, which adds up to enough surplus food to feed at least 28 million hungry people.
“In the spring, we called on home gardeners to grow more vegetables than ever before as a way to help feed their community,” said Bonnie Plants President and CEO Mike Sutterer. “It contributed to a movement among Americans to plant their own victory gardens. Now that these gardeners are harvesting the vegetables they have grown, we want to make sure none of it goes to waste. Filling just a small grocery bag is all it takes to provide around 25 pounds of fresh produce to feed those who need it.”
Bonnie Plants continues to donate to local food pantries all of the produce grown in their test gardens in Union Springs, Alabama and Marysville, Ohio, already eclipsing their goal of donating 5,000 pounds of fresh vegetables directly from these gardens. People without a garden can also help support the mission of AmpleHarvest.org by making a monetary donation, which will help expand their network of more than 8,700 food pantries in 4,200 communities across all 50 states.
AmpleHarvest.org easily connects gardeners to the closest participating food pantry with instructions on how, where, and when to donate homegrown produce. COVID-19 safety protocols are in place at all partner food pantries to ensure that food is transferred safely, making the process of getting fresh food into the hands of those in need as easy as possible.
For more information about the Grow More. Feed More. initiative, please visit: bonnieplants.com/gardening/grow-more-feed-more/
*A team from the Harvard Business School (HBS) Alumni Association created a tool to calculate the sustained and growing impact of monetary donations to AmpleHarvest.org. More information can be found here.
About Bonnie Plants
Headquartered in Union Springs, Alabama, Bonnie Plants is the largest and only national supplier and producer of vegetable and herb plants in the United States. Bonnie grows 300 varieties of quality vegetable and herb plants for home gardeners across the country, with 70+ growing stations, serving the 48 contiguous states. Established in 1918 by Livingston and Bonnie Paulk, the company has remained in touch with its roots for more than 100 years. Bonnie Plants are available at garden retailers throughout the United States. For more information, please visit bonnieplants.com.
About AmpleHarvest.org
AmpleHarvest.org, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is diminishing hunger and food waste in America by educating and enabling the nation’s 42 million gardeners to donate their garden surplus to local food pantries nationwide. For more information, visit AmpleHarvest.org or call AMPLE-6-9880 (267-536-9880).
