ScottsMiracle-Gro's National GroGood Campaign Comes to Dallas
April 20 2009 - 11:50AM
PR Newswire (US)
Community garden expansion to benefit local food agencies DALLAS,
April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A local Dallas community garden has
expanded from 36 to 90 garden plots, thanks to the national GroGood
campaign, a program that encourages edible gardening. The GroGood
initiative is sponsored in part by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company,
its philanthropic partners, the City of Dallas Green Dallas
initiative and Keep Dallas Beautiful. The local garden's harvest
will be donated to nearby organizations that will provide Dallas'
hungry with the fresh-grown produce. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/CL01532 ) The
additional 54 garden plots were formally dedicated in a ceremony on
Saturday, April 18 at the Lake Highlands Community Garden on
Goforth Road. A 1,400-square-foot donation garden was also unveiled
and will produce food solely for local food agencies. The GroGood
program is designed to encourage residents to grow their own fruits
and vegetables, and donate the extra to community food agencies.
The edible garden project was coordinated by ScottsMiracle-Gro,
Keep America Beautiful, Keep Dallas Beautiful, the Garden Writers
Association, Plant a Row for the Hungry, the National Gardening
Association and Franklin Park Conservatory. Earlier this spring,
ScottsMiracle-Gro, Plant a Row for the Hungry and Feeding America
announced they have joined forces in an effort to provide fresh
produce to the hungry this summer and to ask Americans to take the
GroGood pledge: Grow for the greater good. To launch the GroGood
campaign, ScottsMiracle-Gro is donating 1 million pounds of produce
and calling on Americans to help double that donation by pledging
to grow and donate an additional 1 million pounds of fresh produce
to help feed those at risk for hunger. At Saturday's event Council
Members Jerry Allen, District 10, and Sheffie Kadane, District 9,
led local gardeners in the GroGood pledge, an official promise to
grow and donate extra produce to help feed the hungry. National and
local representatives from the GroGood partnership provided
gardening tips and instruction to local gardeners and residents,
and kids enjoyed an "Eat a Rainbow" activity station where they
learned about the health benefits associated with consuming a
colorful variety of fruits and vegetables. "The addition of more
than 50 plots to this already well-established garden and its
involvement in the GroGood campaign takes the benefits of this
neighborhood garden a step further by contributing back to the
hunger needs of greater Dallas by sharing freshly grown fruits and
vegetables," said District 10 Council Member Jerry Allen. The Lake
Highlands Community Garden is the inaugural partnership between the
City of Dallas and local residents to find a productive and
beneficial use for unused property owned by the city. The garden is
maintained by Lake Highlands residents who care for a specific plot
of their own and this year are sharing extra produce for
distribution by the food agencies Gleaning Network of Texas and
Family Gateway. "It's inspiring to see how across the country,
gardens have the power to bring out the best in people and their
neighborhoods," said Su Lok, director of corporate and community
partnerships for ScottsMiracle-Gro. "As more gardeners look to grow
their own produce this season, we hope they share a portion of
their harvest with those in need in their community." The Dallas
garden is one of five GroGood gardens ScottsMiracle-Gro and its
partners will create across the country this spring to encourage
neighborhood participation in edible gardening and the GroGood
campaign. In addition to the Dallas garden, edible gardens were
established in Los Angeles and Miami earlier this spring, and
gardens are planned for Washington, D.C. and Chicago later this
year. For more information on GroGood, food gardening and how to
locate a local food agency that accepts fresh produce, please visit
http://www.grogood.com/. About ScottsMiracle-Gro With nearly $3
billion in worldwide sales and more than 6,000 associates, The
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary,
The Scotts Company LLC, is the world's largest marketer of branded
consumer products for lawn and garden care, with products for
professional horticulture as well. The Company's brands are the
most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company's
Scotts(R), Miracle-Gro(R) and Ortho(R) brands are market-leading in
their categories, as is the consumer Roundup(R) brand, which is
marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts
and owned by Monsanto. In the U.S. the Company operates Scotts
LawnService(R), the second largest residential lawn care service
business. In Europe, the Company's brands include Weedol(R),
Pathclear(R), Evergreen(R), Levington(R), Miracle-Gro(R), KB(R),
Fertiligene(R) and Substral(R). For additional information, visit
us at http://www.scotts.com/.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/CL01532
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: The Scotts Miracle-Gro
Company CONTACT: Keri Butler, of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company,
+1-937-644-7410 Web Site: http://www.scotts.com/
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