Video: Cities Feed the Hungry with Locally Grown Produce

GroGood Community Gardens in Washington D.C., Miami, Chicago and Marysville


MARYSVILLE, Ohio, Oct. 15  /PRNewswire/ -- With countless Americans from all walks of life struggling to put food on their table, communities across the country have discovered alternative ways to help locally. GroGood gardens in Washington D.C., Miami, Chicago and Marysville, Ohio have all made significant differences to help feed the hungry.

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  (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091015/NY92802 )

  Washington, D.C.


All summer long, the children from the GroGood community garden harvested vegetables and donated approximately 100 pounds of produce each week to D.C. Central Kitchen, the local area food bank. Inspired by the success of the GroGood community garden, D.C. Parks & Recreation plans to install community gardens in all of their sites in 2010.

Miami

The GroGood community garden inspired Keep Miami Beautiful to mentor a group for Miami citizens interested in starting more gardens. As a result, four new gardens have been created with another planned for this November. The gardeners hope to donate all produce for the Thanksgiving "Love Feast," an annual Thanksgiving meal for the homeless sponsored by New Birth Food Kitchen.

Chicago

The GroGood community garden provided an educational, fun and inspirational place for neighborhood kids to hang out. In the true spirit of volunteerism, the community advocate welcomed neighborhood children to learn how to grow food to feed their families and loved ones. Extra harvest was donated to Inspiration Cafe, the local area food bank.

Marysville, Ohio

The Marysville Food Pantry has received over 3,000+ pounds of fresh produce this summer from the GroGood ScottsMiracle-Gro Associate Gardens. These donations provided vegetables to more than 100 local families each week -- something the food pantry had not done previously.

Earlier this year, ScottsMiracle-Gro, Plant a Row for the Hungry and Feeding America announced a national campaign to fight hunger, the GroGood program, encouraging produce donations from gardens to help local food banks meet the growing demand for food.

In addition to donating 1 million pounds of produce to Feeding America, ScottsMiracle-Gro encouraged Americans to match their donation and supported the development of community gardens with Plant a Row for the Hungry across the U.S.

With the holidays approaching, it is important to give back by raising awareness of hunger issues and identifying ways to support local food agencies. Please visit http://www.feedingamerica.org/ for ways to fight hunger and http://www.grogood.com/ or http://www.gardenwriters.org/ for more information on gardening for the greater good.

About The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

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®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and Smith & Hawken brands are market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup® 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®, the second largest residential lawn service business. In Europe, the Company's brands include Weedol®, Pathclear®, Evergreen®, Levington®, Miracle-Gro®, KB®, Fertiligene® and Substral®. For additional information, visit us at http://www.scotts.com/.

About Plant a Row for the Hungry

Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) is a public service program of the Garden Writers Association Foundation founded in 1995 by Jeff Lowenfels, a former president of the Garden Writers Association, newspaper columnist and radio/television host based in Anchorage, Alaska. PAR helps create local volunteer committees to support charities and relief programs designed to help feed the hungry by providing a focal point to connect the gardening community with food pantries, churches and other civic organizations. With over 27,000 volunteers in 50 states and an affiliate in Canada called Grow a Row, PAR has helped donate more than 14 million pounds of produce, representing 48 million meals, to local organizations. For more information about Plant a Row for the Hungry, visit http://www.gardenwriters.org/.

About Feeding America (Formerly America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network)

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks operate 63,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org/.

  Media Contacts Only:
  
  937.644.7410

  Fallon.O'
  312.240.2884

  Consumer Inquiries Only:
  http://www.grogood.com/
  1-866-4663-GRO


http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091015/NY92802http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/scotts/40524DATASOURCE: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company



CONTACT:  Media, Keri Butler +1-937.644.7410, ; or

Fallon O'Connor, [phone], Fallon.O', Consumer

Inquiries, http://www.grogood.com/ 1-866-4663-GRO



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

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