Local Sprouts employees participated in the Third Annual Sprouts Day of Service at the Max M Fisher Boys & Girls Club in Riviera Beach on Saturday, November 6. The volunteers along with Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County staff rolled up their sleeves and prepared the Club’s garden for a new growing season. The garden beds’ soil was amended and vegetables were planted to help teach Club members about the importance of organic foods and healthy diets.

The Sprouts Day of Service kicked off a new two-year partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation recently awarded the Max M Fisher Boys & Girls Club of Riviera Beach and the Marjorie S Fisher Boys & Girls Club of West Palm Beach with a grant to fund and expand gardening programs at the two Clubs. For the Max M Fisher Boys & Girls Club, this will continue an already thriving garden program originally launched by Palm Beach Heartstrong several years ago. For the Marjorie S Fisher Boys & Girls Club, this will be a fresh start for their gardening program. Fresh RX will create the curriculum and ensure that Club members have an impactful experience that will translate into a lifelong desire for healthy eating.

Over the next two years, the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation grant will allow Club members to not only learn how to grow organic vegetables but also allow them to experiment and taste healthy vegetables that they may have never encountered. This is a hands-on approach to show the importance of adopting and maintaining a healthy diet. In the second year of the program, both Club members and parents will be invited to tour local Sprouts locations to learn how healthy grocery lists can be budget-friendly while combating or preventing heart disease and diabetes.

“Our partner organizations are led by incredible changemakers working at the neighborhood level to build healthy, vibrant communities, and to make healthy habits rewarding and enjoyable for children and families,” said Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation Executive Director Lyndsey Waugh. “With this in mind, we value the importance of working with our partners for the long haul, and have invested in organizational capacity, program infrastructure, and multi-year funding to empower these leaders to be as effective in their work as possible.”