Boys & Girls Clubs of America Encourages Healthy Eating Habits Through Continued Partnership With Amway

Amway Arms Boys & Girls Club Youth with Tools to Lead Healthy Lifestyles

ATLANTA, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) announced today it is launching the third year of its $1 million national partnership with Amway to support community gardens and healthy habits at Clubs across the United States. The gardens – built by and for Club youth – highlight BGCA's focus on motivating children to adopt active, healthy lifestyles. As a part of the partnership, Amway's POSITIVE SPROUTS® teaches kids how to plant and maintain their own edible gardens. An accompanying curriculum educates youth about nutrition, organic gardening practices and cooking from the garden.

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This year's POSITIVE SPROUTS® program includes several new initiatives:

• POSITIVE SPROUTS® Sustainability Grants – Amway is providing $30,000 in Sustainability Grants to ten deserving Boys & Girls Clubs who previously received community gardens from Amway. The funds are designed to assist Clubs with the maintenance of their garden.
• Garden In A Box Kits – Amway is donating 150 Garden In A Box kits to Boys & Girls Clubs who demonstrated an interest and need for establishing a community gardening program at their Club. The kit includes a variety of fruit and vegetable seeds and supplies Clubs need to get started.
• POSITIVE SPROUTS® Curriculum – Amway is enabling the delivery of a healthy food curriculum to 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide ensuring that all Clubs have access to educational materials promoting healthy eating habits.

"We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Amway, which means the expansion of the POSITIVE SPROUTS program into more Clubs and communities," said Judith J. Pickens, senior vice president for Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Program & Youth Development Services. "This partnership allows us to create learning opportunities for our youth while showing them that building and cultivating a garden can be rewarding and fun."

While this is the third year in Amway's national partnership with BGCA, Amway North America has partnered with local Boys & Girls Clubs across the U.S. since 1948. In addition to its continued relationship with BGCA, Amway works to help disadvantaged children through the AMWAY ONE BY ONE CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN. Since 2003, the AMWAY ONE BY ONE CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN has donated more than $141 million to children's causes, touching the lives of 8 million children by providing hands-on engagement and financial support.

Amway is the number one online health and beauty retailer in America, and its NUTRILITE® brand is the world's leading seller of vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements, based on 2010 sales.

"The Boys & Girls Clubs of America touches the lives of so many young people in this country and their families," says Jori Hartwig, Vice President of Marketing – Amway North America. "We're honored to continue our partnership with BGCA and to support their mission, which is so close to the heart of Amway's own commitment to helping children."

The POSITIVE SPROUTS® program supports BGCA's healthy lifestyle initiative to engage Club members in positive behaviors that nurture their own well being, set personal goals and commit to a healthy lifestyle to achieve great futures. 

For more information on the Amway and BGCA partnership visit http://bgca.org/meetourpartners/Pages/Amway.aspx.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, some 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs serve nearly 4 million children and teens through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native American lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. Clubs provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 57 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at bgca.org/facebook and bgca.org/twitter.

About Amway and the Amway One by One Campaign for Children
Amway (amway.com) is one of the world's largest direct selling businesses. Alticor Inc., parent company of Amway, reported global sales of $10.9 billion in 2011. Founded in 1959 by entrepreneurs Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel, and based in Ada, Michigan (United States), Amway offers consumer products and business opportunities through a network of more than 3 million distributors in more than 80 countries and territories worldwide. The top-selling brands for Amway are NUTRILITE® vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements, ARTISTRY® skincare and colour cosmetics, and eSpring® water treatment systems. The company provides product development, manufacturing and logistics services through its Access Business Group and Alticor Corporate Enterprises divisions. The AMWAY ONE BY ONE CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN program (Amway.com/PositiveCommunities) builds local relationships that result in global impact. Through One by One programs, Amway, its employees, and distributors support hundreds of nonprofit organizations in more than 50 countries working to address the full spectrum of children's needs. Our employees and Independent Business Owners have spent over 2 million hours volunteering to make life better for children around the world.

SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America