Giant partners with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to offer Healing the Planet grant program
In partnership with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, Giant announced the return of its Healing the Planet grant program. This year, $300,000 will be awarded to projects that address food waste prevention, reduction and recovery across Giant's operating area in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.
“In the past two years of our grant program and partnership with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, we have worked with dozens of grant recipients to make a difference in healing the planet by connecting families to green spaces and focusing on water conservation,” said Jessica Groves, community impact manager, The GIANT Company. “As a grocer, we are tackling the issue of food waste in our operations every day. Understanding that we all can make changes to divert food waste for our landfills, this year we are focusing on projects which specifically take steps to address this issue.”
The 2023 Healing the Planet grant program is accepting online applications now through April 13 via the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Projects must address food waste prevention, reduction and or recovery and can include community composting, increased access to compost for agricultural producers, educational programs regarding food waste prevention, reduction and recovery and diversion of food waste from landfills. Community gardens are eligible for funding but must have a food waste prevention, reduction and/or recovery component, such as education. Awardees will be announced in June.
[Read more: Giant releases community impact report]
This is the third year Giant has partnered with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to offer Healing the Planet grants. In the past two years, over $800,000 has been awarded to 87 recipients for projects that connected people and families to green spaces and improved or helped protect local waterways and water resources.
“Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is excited to learn about the many inventive ways food waste is being prevented, reduced and recovered,” said Shannon Reiter, president of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “Not only do these types of projects save natural resources and reduce the amount of material that enters the waste stream, they can also potentially provide food security to those in need. We are honored to continue our partnership with the Giant Co. to provide opportunities to make a difference in the efficiencies of food waste within our communities. We also want to thank all of you who ’rounded up’ at the register. Your generosity will directly impact your local community.”
As part of Giant's healing the planet initiative, the company is committed to zero-waste initiatives, offsetting emissions, reducing food waste and producing green energy and plastic bag recycling and plastic reduction efforts.
In addition, customers also can support Giant's healing the planet initiatives. Now through May 31, customers can round up their purchase at any Giant, Martin's or Giant Heirloom Market store at checkout. Funds donated through round up will benefit Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, Rodale Institute and Planet Bee Foundation.