US: WP Rawl’s Nature’s Greens is fighting hunger one garden at a time

WP Rawl announced today its partnership with Katie’s Krops, a non-profit focused on empowering kids to plant vegetable gardens and donate the harvest to the underserved in their communities. The partnership will help fund grants for kids ages 9 to 16, while helping Katie work towards her goal of having at least one garden in all 50 states.

For every bag of specially marked Nature’s Greens Kale and Collard Greens sold through the end of the year, WP Rawl will give a percentage to Katie’s Krops to help with the non-profit’s 2013 initiatives. The donation from WP Rawl is expected to allow Katie’s Krops to fund 15 gardens next spring.

Katie’s Krops began in 2008 when then-nine-year-old Katie Stagliano planted a tiny cabbage seedling and watched it grow into a 40-pound cabbage. After donating it to a local soup kitchen and realizing how many people she was able to feed with it, Katie decided to empower others to do the same. Today, Katie’s Krops has 51 gardens in 22 states that have yielded thousands of pounds of fresh produce donated to organizations helping people in need.

Giving back to the community has always been a part of WP Rawl’s core mission. As a grower, shipper and processor of leafy greens and various other vegetables, a partnership with Katie’s Krops made sense. Fresh produce is often the last thing that soup kitchens and food banks receive and Katie’s Krops gardens have been instrumental in providing this nourishment to the people that need it most. The partnership between Rawl and Katie’s Krops is a unique program that every retailer can localize to their own community, as well as a great opportunity to give back to those in need in a sustainable way.

“When I first met Katie, I was immediately energized by how much someone so young has been able to accomplish and knew we had to support her,” said Ashley Rawl, Director of Sales & Marketing for WP Rawl. “We wanted to put together a program to help Katie’s Krops grow while at the same time give her visibility in retail outlets across the country.”

Katie was recently honored as the youngest recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen Award in September 2012. She is also a board member of Alliance for a Healthier Generation and a former winner of Disney’s Friend for Change grant. Katie also blogs for Lowe’s Creative Ideas Garden Grow Along and is an avid swimmer for her school’s team.

The grant application process is now open. To learn more about how you can get involved, make a donation or to apply for a grant, visit www.rawl.net/katieskrops.