ScottsMiracle-Gro's National GroGood Campaign Comes to Dallas

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/. 

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DATASOURCE: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company



CONTACT:  Keri Butler, of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company,

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Web Site:  http://www.scotts.com/ 

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