GCF, Farm Progress Enter Partnership
"We want all students to understand the importance of farming and agricultural sustainability in the Central San Joaquin Valley," said Fresno Grizzlies Managing General Partner and Team President Chris Cummings. "With the help of Farm Progress and through our community program Wild About Reading, children will be able to learn more about the food they eat and how they can help support farming, too"
The Farm Grown Magazine will feature agriculture-related information and games as well as nutritional facts to promote healthier eating alternatives for kids of all ages. Content will be correlated to California's Common Core State Standards for education so that it can be adopted and used by teachers in the classroom. The goal of the Farm Grown Magazine is to teach children the path that food travels from the farm to their lunchboxes.
Wild About Reading reached an all-time high in 2012, enrolling over 97,000 Central Valley students, the most in the program's history. More than 250 assemblies were held at schools featuring Grizzlies mascot Parker and Grizzlies front office staff members reading to students while Parker acts out his adventures. The program has been adopted by schools in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa and Merced counties. Students who reach the goal of reading 10 books in five weeks receive tickets to a Grizzlies home game at Chukchansi Park. This school year the Wild About Reading Program will take on an Ag theme with a book called "Parker Visits A Farm." Parker and his friends will be visiting a Central Valley farm learning about being a farmer.
Under the GCF 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Central California Farm Grown program was announced in April of 2012 to promote the agricultural heritage and philanthropic vitality of the Central San Joaquin Valley through the building of meaningful partnerships in support of education and healthy eating.
For more information on how you can become a sponsor of the Farm Grown program, please contact Jerry James of the Grizzlies front office at (559) 320-2511.