LG Electronics Teams with 'Grow to Learn NYC' to Bring Good News -- and Green Gardens -- to New York City Schools

NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Global technology innovator LG Electronics announced today support for the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and Grow to Learn NYC, the City's school gardening initiative.  LG's support will help create new school gardens and green spaces through improved online information sharing and communication with the teachers, parents, and leaders who play a crucial role in ensuring that more young New Yorkers have access to a garden.

"The Mayor's Fund is grateful for the support of LG Electronics," said Jenny Sharfstein, Director of Programs at the Mayor's Fund. "By supporting the City's school gardens initiative, LG is helping to advance both the environmental and health goals of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and providing our children with critical experiential learning opportunities to see where food comes from and how it is grown."

"We are thrilled to have LG as a founding supporter of Grow to Learn NYC, demonstrating their continued commitment to sustainability by helping to achieve the vision of a garden for every school," added Marcel Van Ooyen, Executive Director of GrowNYC, the initiative's co-founder. "LG's support will help us cultivate a living, growing school gardening community, and provide New York City's school kids with hands-on opportunities to learn about math and science, and develop positive food attitudes and environmental awareness.  We look forward to sharing more 'good news' as we get our school gardens growing."

LG's involvement with the Mayor's Fund and Grow to Learn NYC dovetails with the unveiling of LG's Good News interactive billboard in Times Square, which is dedicated to collecting and distributing good news from around the globe. Beginning yesterday, New Yorkers, passer-bys and people throughout the nation, were invited to share their own good news, including their own charitable donations via text message and tweets, giving them the chance to see their name and news in lights high above Times Square.  For each correspondence it receives, LG will donate one dollar to Grow to Learn NYC, up to $25,000.

Wayne Park, president of LG Electronics USA, Inc., said, "The Mayor's school gardens initiative is an important program that helps students learn more about sustainable, green initiatives, and we are very excited to be bringing good news to public schools throughout New York City.  LG is proud of our role in helping more schools secure the resources needed to make the largest city in America more green."

The Citywide School Gardens Initiative aims to help New York City's youth eat healthier and understand where their food comes from. The project is helping schools build a garden or connect them to an existing garden and provide cooking and nutrition instruction to young New Yorkers.  This program was created in partnership between GrowNYC and the Mayor's Fund to ensure that every school has access to the resources needed to build and sustain gardens.

About LG Electronics USA

LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States, LG Electronics sells a range of stylish and innovative home entertainment products, mobile phones, home appliances and commercial displays, all under LG's "Life's Good" marketing theme. For more information, please visit www.LG.com.

About the Mayor's Fund

The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, which facilitates innovative public-private partnerships such as the NYC School Gardens Initiative. The Fund relies on individuals, foundations, and corporations to support public programs in areas including the environment, youth development, financial empowerment, health, volunteerism, and the arts. For more information, please visit www.nyc.gov/fund.

About GrowNYC

GrowNYC improves New York City's quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations.  Programs include: Greenmarket, which runs 51 farmers' markets throughout the city; Open Space Greening, which creates and rejuvenates community gardens and builds rainwater harvesting systems; Environmental Education, which offers projects in the areas of conservation, alternative energy and more in intermediate and high schools; the Office of Recycling Outreach and Education, which promotes recycling and waste prevention; Learn It, Grow It, Eat It, which offers teens hands-on nutrition and health programming; Youthmarkets, youth-operated urban farm stands; and the New Farmer Development, which helps immigrant farmers start their own farms in the region.  To learn more, visit www.grownyc.org

SOURCE LG Electronics USA, Inc.