United Fresh Start Foundation awards $53,000 in Innovation Grants Program

United Fresh Start Foundation announced the eight recipients of its 2020 Community Innovation Grants Program. The program funds initiatives that aim to increase children’s access, selection, and consumption of fresh produce whether at home, on weekends, during the summer, while out to eat, or outside the traditional school day.

“The important work of the Foundation comes to fruition when we’re able to support organizations through programs like our Community Innovation Grants Program,” said Phil Muir, President & CEO, Muir Copper Canyon Farms and Chairman, United Fresh Start Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “We’re  grateful for the work that these grant recipients and all applicants do with their focus on fresh and the passion they have for ensuring children in their communities have the ability to make healthier life choices.”

The United Fresh Start Foundation has awarded a total of $53,000 in grant funding to the following 2020 Community Innovation Grants Program recipients:

• FoodShare South Carolina, Columbia, SC
• Get Healthy Utah, Beaver County, UT
• Hands on Hartford, Hartford, CT
• LA Food Policy Council, Los Angeles, CA
• Roots for the Home Team, St. Paul, MN
• The Food Trust, Philadelphia, PA
• Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership, Warren, OH
• YMCA of Lansing, Lansing, MI

“We are pleased to support these organizations to ensure children have the increased access and selection of fresh produce that we know they need in order become healthy adults,” said Tom Stenzel, President & CEO, United Fresh. “We want to thank the produce industry for their support through generous contributions to the United Fresh Start Foundation that allow us to extend our work beyond the school day, nurturing an environment where kids have access to produce everywhere they live, learn and play.”

The 2020 program is focused on supporting visionary initiatives and research from organizations including not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organizations, schools, universities, small businesses, and others with innovative projects that align with the Foundation’s mission.

“With this year’s grant cycle focused on making fresh produce more accessible in retail and foodservice environments, we were so impressed with the creative ways communities are making fresh fruits and vegetables the easy choice for kids and families, often in places they are already spending time or money,” adds Mollie Van Lieu, Senior Director, Nutrition Policy, United Fresh. “We are excited to see the outcomes of these projects.”

For more information about the Community Innovation Grants Program, contact Mollie Van Lieu, United Fresh’s Senior Director, Nutrition Policy, at 202-303-3403.

The United Fresh Start Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization focused exclusively on increasing children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Affiliated with the United Fresh Produce Association, the Foundation is committed to helping today’s kids achieve the public health goal to make half their plate fruits and vegetables in order to live longer and healthier lives. The Foundation works to create an environment in which kids have easy access to high-quality, great-tasting and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, whenever and wherever they are choosing snacks or a meal.

More information at: www.unitedfreshstart.org.