Price Chopper and Dole Packaged Foods kick-off 4 th Annual School Learning Garden Grant Contest

Kansas City, MO -- Today Price Chopper and Dole Packaged Foods kicked off the 4thannual learning garden grant contest that will grant two elementary schools in Price Chopper’s market area a Captain Planet Foundation Project Learning Garden. The contest begins August 25 and runs until October 8, 2021. 

Price Chopper shoppers can enter their school for a chance to win by visitinghttps://captainplanetfoundation.org/contest/pricechopper/and filling out the contest application. Two lucky schools will win a comprehensive Project Learning Garden complete with lesson kits filled with supplies, a schoolyard garden, fully-equipped garden cooking cart, and strategies for summer garden maintenance.

The Learning Garden program provides a context for multidisciplinary learning, ranging from nutrition and science to social, studies, math and language arts. Students benefit by expanding their palates, taste-testing healthy foods, and learning about food origins.

Past winning schools have been: Hawthorn Hill Elementary School in Lee’s Summit, MO, Meadow Lane Elementary School in Lee’s Summit, MO, Shawanoe Elementary School in Shawnee, KS, Sunflower Elementary School in Paola, KS and Dogwood Elementary School in Kearney, MO.

 “At Dole we understand the importance of teaching children the benefits of incorporating fruits and vegetables into their diet, whether they are enjoying fresh produce from a learning garden, or a healthy Dole snack,” said Laura Pedersen – Sales Director, Dole Packaged Foods. “By partnering with Captain Planet Foundation and Price Chopper for this grant contest, we will be helping students learn about and develop healthy habits.”

“Anything can be taught in the context of the garden, and hands-on learning supports student understanding of natural systems, food origins, and healthy eating,” explained Leesa Carter, President, Captain Planet Foundation. “Captain Planet Foundation is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of environmental stewards, and ensuring they are armed with an understanding of the natural world in which they live. We are thrilled to be working with Price Chopper and Dole to provide two lucky schools with a learning garden.”

"Price Chopper has always been committed to helping the youth in our area access healthy foods and activities, which is why we are excited to partner with the Dole and Captain Planet Foundation again in a contest that will award two schools a learning garden," says Caitlin Tremain, Marketing Manager, Price Chopper. "The hands-on garden and the curriculum that goes with it have helped students all over the country to have a better understanding about where their food comes from."

About Dole Packaged Foods, LLC

Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, is a world leader in growing, sourcing, distributing, and marketing fruit and healthy snacks.  Dole sells a full line of packaged shelf stable fruit, frozen fruit, dried fruit, and juices.  The company focuses on four pillars of sustainability: water management, carbon footprint, soil conservation and waste reduction.  For more information, please visitdolesunshine.comordolesunshine.com/doing-good.

About Price Chopper

Price Chopper’s 52 Kansas City stores are locally owned by the Ball, Cosentino, McKeever, and Queen families, all of whom live in Kansas City and oversee store operations on a daily basis. For over 40 years, the owners and employees of Price Chopper have been committed to providing the highest quality products and top-of-the-line customer service to the thousands of customers they serve every day. For more information, please visitwww.mypricechopper.com.

About Captain Planet Foundation (CPF)

Based on the critically-acclaimed animated seriesCaptain Planet and the Planeteers,CPF was co-founded in 1991 by media mogul Ted Turner and producer Barbara Pyle.   Since then, the Captain Planet Foundation has played a critical role in helping to ensure that the next generation of business leaders and policy makers are environmentally literate citizens who leverage technology and information to manage and protect the air, land, and water upon which all life depends. 

CPF is a grant-making foundation that has funded over 2,000 hands-on environmental education projects withschools and non-profits that serve children in all 50 U.S. states and in 23 countries internationally. More than 1.2 million children have directly participated in and benefited from these educational projects. In addition to its Small Grants Program, the Captain Planet Foundation also operates the following programs: Project Learning Garden, the Leadership Center, SAGES, Planeteer Clubs, and many other science education initiatives that exploit the intersections between technology, innovation, the environment and personal action. Formore information:www.captainplanetfoundation.org.