Ten Local Moms Win Grants for Hometown Community Gardens


Moms Learn to Become Vegetable Experts at Retreat with Celebrity
Chef Art Smith

CHICAGO (May 11, 2009) – The Love Your Veggies™ campaign is helping 10 moms across the country grow their communities’ enjoyment and appreciation for vegetables with $5,000 grants to start or improve a garden in each of their hometowns.

The campaign, created by the makers of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings, also provided the moms with a wealth of tips, tools and recipes taught over two days of workshops, field trips and cooking demonstrations with notable food, gardening and nutrition experts, including celebrity chef Art Smith. The retreat was held on April 28 and 29 in Chicago.  

The exceptional moms were selected via the “Search for Veggie Champions Contest,” which asked entrants to demonstrate a devotion to getting their kids and communities to eat vegetables. The moms have each designated a non-profit organization to which the $5,000 prize money has been awarded to implement the garden projects. The projects will inspire community vegetable cultivation in locations such as schools, farms, churches and YMCAs. “Our goal was to identify moms who are true vegetable advocates” said Greg Powell, associate marketing manager for Hidden Valley® products. “Their commitment to encouraging their community and family to eat more vegetables is inspiring and will take on a greater meaning once their gardens are harvested and shared.” 

The winning moms and their projects include:

  • Deborah Flowers, Kokomo, Ind. – Flowers’ grant will benefit the City of Kokomo, which will work with her to turn a vacant urban lot into a vegetable garden. A true community project, it has inspired interest and cooperation from the local recycling agency, parks department, water district, carpenter’s union, artists and agricultural extension agents.

  • Brandi-Lynn Greig, Firestone, Colo. – Greig plans to aid the St. Brigit Episcopal Church with the creation of a community vegetable garden that will provide the local food bank with fresh, nutritious produce and supplement a free meal program for children from low-income families. Maintenance of the garden will create opportunities for hands-on community education in gardening and nutrition.

  • Jean Marie Gunner, Hamburg, N.Y. – Gunner’s donation to the Hamburg School District will be used to create a school-based, child-friendly community vegetable garden that will include a multitude of fresh vegetables, healthy soil full of compost and raised garden beds. Local high school students and community members will assist in the care and cultivation of the garden. 

  • Mary Kovalchick, Bethlehem, Pa. – Kovalchick’s grant will benefit the new ProJeCt of Easton, Inc. Green Legacy Garden. ProJeCt offers programs designed to help individuals and families meet basic needs, develop plans and resources, and strive toward self-sufficiency through life-long learning. This year, ProJeCt’s community garden project will be managed by adult students in ways that are socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible. 

  • Jessica McKinney, Crystal City, Mo. – McKinney plans to start a garden in the open courtyard of a new building at Crystal City Elementary where she will work with students to plant vegetables, herbs and fruit and possibly raise a beehive. This garden will have compost barrels and a rain collection device and the produce will be integrated into the school lunch program.

  • Bridget O’Boyle, Minneapolis – O’Boyle’s donation is being contributed to The Youth Farm and Market Project (YFMP) in Minneapolis, an organization committed to bringing quality, healthy food to urban neighborhoods by cooking and distributing more than 4,000 pounds of fresh, local produce. YFMP works with more than 300 youth ages 9-13, and employs 25 teens as both interns during the school year and youth staff during the summer program.

  • Amy Oztan, Brooklyn, N.Y. – Oztan will use her grant to teach children the importance of fresh vegetables at Public School 11K by involving students in the growing process from plant to plate. Because most of these students do not have their own backyards, a community garden at school will provide them with an excellent opportunity to learn about how vegetables are grown.

  • Laura Plaut, Lummi Island, Wash. – Plaut’s grant will aid her farm-based, educational non-profit Common Threads Farm, which currently provides seed-to-table, gardening and cooking-based educational programs for more than 200 children. Funding will help with the ongoing development and maintenance of garden and cooking programs, and additional low and no cost programs for low-income youth.

  • Glayol Shaba, Sacramento, Calif. – Shaba plans to improve and maintain an existing school garden serving two elementary schools as an educational resource. The grant will be used to create a shade structure for the outdoor classroom and a reading garden for students. The funds will also expand the present curriculum to include nutrition and exercise classes for children and parents, develop opportunities for food demonstrations using the garden-grown vegetables, and offer gardening lessons for community members. 

  • Kelly Stephens, Jasper, Tenn. – Stephens’ funds will benefit the "Grow with me, Grow with the Y, Grow for others" community greenhouse and teaching garden at the Downtown Family YMCA of Chattanooga, Tenn. The YMCA will provide workshop opportunities for participants to build gardens at their local schools and neighborhoods and to use their own yards for growing their own food. Stephens also plans to take what she learns from this project and replicate it at her daughter's school.

The retreat course curriculum is available to all parents and teachers at LoveYourVeggies.com. There, visitors can also learn more about the Love Your Veggies™ campaign and the “Search for Veggie Champions Contest” winners, along with kid-friendly recipes, activities and nutrition tips. For more information about Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings, visit HiddenValley.com.


About Love Your Veggies™
The makers of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings were inspired to create the Love Your Veggies™ campaign and grant program after findings from a 2006 study of two Northern California elementary schools conducted by the University of California Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the Butte County Cooperative Extension found that children tend to eat more vegetables when paired with a moderate amount of ranch dressing. At the same time the results of this study were released, many schools nationwide were working to comply with the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act which required school districts to adopt local school wellness policies to improve students’ overall health and nutrition, and were facing an overwhelming shortage of funds available to execute these programs. To respond to this need, the Love Your Veggies™ grant program was created and has since awarded more than a half a million dollars to elementary schools across the country, helping to affect change in the diets of thousands of children.

About Hidden Valley®
The HV Food Products Company is a subsidiary of The Clorox Company, headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Clorox is a leading manufacturer and marketer of consumer products with fiscal year 2008 revenues of $5.3 billion. Clorox markets some of consumers' most trusted and recognized brand names, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products, Green Works™ natural cleaners, Armor All® and STP® auto-care products, Fresh Step® and Scoop Away® cat litter, Kingsford® charcoal, Hidden Valley® and K C Masterpiece® dressings and sauces, Brita® water-filtration systems, Glad® bags, wraps and containers, and Burt’s Bees® natural personal care products. With 8,300 employees worldwide, the company manufactures products in more than two dozen countries and markets them in more than 100 countries. Clorox is committed to making a positive difference in the communities where its employees work and live. Founded in 1980, The Clorox Company Foundation has awarded cash grants totaling more than $73.9 million to nonprofit organizations, schools and colleges. In fiscal 2008 alone, the foundation awarded $4.2 million in cash grants, and Clorox made product donations valued at $10.2 million. For more information, visit TheCloroxCompany.com.