January 4, 2024 Pittstown, New Jersey – America’s Grow-a-Row announced today they have received a grant for $100,000 from Bayer Fund. In line with Bayer Fund’s mission, this grant will be used towards building a better future by expanding access to fresh produce for people in our communities – and beyond – who are struggling with hunger and malnutrition. Recently, America’s Grow-a-Row reached a new milestone of donating eighty million servings, or twenty million pounds, of produce to food banks in twenty states throughout the country with efforts primarily concentrated in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
“We are proud of our valuable partnership with Bayer Fund which has been ongoing for nearly ten years. This transformational grant will allow us to significantly grow our programs as we continue to expand our farming operations and gleaning efforts in 2024."
In our mutual goal to see the communities we serve flourish, the grant from Bayer Fund will support America’s Grow-a-Row’s 2024 Fresh Produce Initiative, which includes produce distribution, education, Kids Farm Days, and community engagement through a robust network of volunteers. Ongoing since 2012, the Fresh Produce Initiative is America’s Grow-a-Row’s cornerstone program dedicated to increasing access to nutritious produce, providing supportive education about healthy eating, meal preparation, agriculture, and food insecurity. America’s Grow-a-Row received a grant from Bayer Fund last year for the 2023 Fresh Produce Initiative and as a result, the program was able to grow over 25%.
“Through Bayer Fund’s giving, we’re enabling and strengthening organizations that are working to make real, sustainable impacts in their local communities across the United States,” said Al Mitchell, President of Bayer Fund. “Programs like America’s Grow-a-Row’s Fresh Produce Initiative help combat the critical issue of food insecurity, and we’re proud to play a role with helping even more people in our community have access to healthy, nutritious food.”
In 2022, the Bayer Fund awarded more than $13.4 million to over 2,700 charitable and nonprofit organizations to help address essential needs in Food and Nutrition, STEM Education and Health & Wellness. Since 2017, nonprofit organizations across the U.S. have received nearly $90 million.
About America’s Grow-a-Row
The mission of America’s Grow-a-Row is to positively impact as many lives as possible through a volunteer effort of planting, picking, rescuing, and delivering free fresh produce to more than 20 states across the country. Critical to our unique mission, our education program shares the health benefits of incorporating fresh produce into one’s diet while teaching ways to cook the produce we distribute. Headquartered on 423 acres in Hunterdon County, NJ, since 2002 we have harvested and donated more than 20 million pounds of produce for people faced with hunger and food insecurity. America’s Grow-a-Row is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, EIN 26-2569598.
About Bayer Fund
Bayer Fund, a philanthropic arm of Bayer in the U.S., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the communities where Bayer customers and employees live and work by providing funding for nutrition, education, and health and wellness projects. For more information, visit https://www.fund.bayer.us.
America’s Grow-a-Row Media Contact
Karla Wallack
Karla@americasgrowarow.org
908.566.7665
Bayer Fund Media Contact
Nicole Hayes
Nicole.Hayes@bayer.com
201.421.5268
