Oct. 13, 2009 (PR Newswire) --
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFMI), a leading natural and organic grocer, extends thanks to customers at its 273 U.S. locations for donating $660,065 -- to help transform school lunches across the country. Over the past eight weeks, customers surpassed the Company's goal of $400,000 to fund the development of "The Lunch Box Project," an online resource created by "Renegade Lunch Lady" Chef Ann Cooper's nonprofit, F3: Food Family Farming Foundation, which helps public schools provide more nutritious lunches for kids. This total combined with a $50,000 donation from the company means F3 will receive $710,065.
"Our customers have shown us that providing healthy lunches for our children is an issue of great importance to them," said Whole Foods Market Co-President and Chief Operating Officer Walter Robb. "We are so pleased to celebrate National School Lunch Week this year by recognizing and thanking our shoppers for their contribution. Inspired by our customers, we are deepening our own commitment by asking each Whole Foods Market location to partner with a school to work on making real progress in cafeterias in our communities' schools."
These store-school partnerships are already developing. For example, as a result of attending one of Whole Foods Market's community discussions, Dr. Melissa Kim, principal of Alice Deal Middle School in Washington, D.C., has struck up a multi-faceted relationship with Whole Foods Market in Tenley. Together the store and the school will approach the school's third-party food service provider with the aim of coordinating menu transitions and culinary training. Additionally, the Tenley store is partnering with the school's International Cooking Club, which meets once a week, to explore cuisine from around the world.
"We are so grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support by Whole Foods Market customers and employees for the creation of 'The Lunch Box Project,'" said Nicole de Beaufort, executive director for The F3 Foundation. "The momentum created by this campaign has generated not only the means to build a successful set of resources; it also has built awareness about the connection between what we feed our children and their health and well-being."
"The Lunch Box Project" toolkit, found online at thelunchbox.org, is now providing more than 80 recipes -- all nutritionally analyzed and easily scaled for portion size or number of servings.
