The Wonderful Company Community Grants Program Directs Over $1.2 Million to Central Valley Nonprofits and Schools

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wonderful Company, a global company dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world, today announced its most recent class of Wonderful Community Grant recipients includes 32 nonprofit organizations in California's Central Valley who will receive a total of $1.2 million in grants to help further their missions and programs. Since its inception, the Wonderful Community Grants program has donated over $4 million to 57 organizations and 165 schools in the Central Valley.

The Wonderful Company invests more than $30 million each year in community development, education, and health and wellness initiatives across the Central Valley and beyond. The Community Grants program is at the heart of the company's ongoing Wonderful Neighbor commitment to support Central Valley communities and is intended to help inspire increased engagement with local and regional organizations.

"The Wonderful Community Grants program's goal is to serve as a catalyst for change in the Central Valley, where our employees live and work," said Andy Anzaldo, chief operating officer, corporate social responsibility at The Wonderful Company. "We are honored to support the missions of so many deserving and impactful organizations. It's only when we work together that we have the opportunity to create meaningful change in our communities."

The grants directly support game-changing programs, with an emphasis on health and wellness, community beautification, family support, and COVID-19 recovery efforts in the towns of Avenal, Delano, Del Rey, Firebaugh, Mendota, Sanger, Shafter, and Wasco. Nonprofit organizations and schools with a history of producing tangible results and that demonstrated a clear community need were eligible to apply for funding.

"Our long-valued partnership with The Wonderful Company has grown even more vital during this time of unprecedented need, and we are thankful for their continued support of the youth of Del Rey," said Diane Carbray, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County, a 2021 community grant recipient. "This commitment to the educational opportunities we provide allows us to increase the number of kids we serve by 50% over the next two years."

"We are incredibly grateful for the generous and timely support from The Wonderful Company," said Dr. Jeannemarie Caris-McManus, MBA, PhD., CEO of Westside Family Preservation Services, another community grant recipient. "Thanks to their investment, we will have enough funding to establish a center in Mendota."

Some of the 2021 grant recipients include:

Avenal

• Central California Food Bank: Distribute free, fresh produce to 22,440 people in Avenal.
• P.S. Arts: Provide visual art instruction and supply kits for 1,000 Avenal students in grades K–5.

Delano

• 746 Sports Foundation: Provide summer camp recreational and learning activities for 150 kids in grades K–8 in Delano, Shafter, and Wasco.
• City of Delano: Replace the lights at the Delano tennis courts so that court open hours may be extended, in order to increase opportunities for the community to play.

Del Rey

• Boys & Girls Club of Del Rey: Provide after-school programming five days a week for kids ages 6 to 18.
• Central Valley Scholars: Provide youth in Del Rey, Firebaugh, and Sanger with the opportunity to participate in a leadership development program.

Firebaugh

• Adventure Risk Challenge: Support Firebaugh students with a two-year outdoor and academic Community Leadership Program.
• Valley Children's Hospital: Improve safe sleeping for 300 families in Firebaugh, with education sessions delivered by nurses and residents and pack n' plays for participants.

Mendota

• Teens That Care: Train 500 students in grades 1–6 on general safety practices for bike and scooter riding in Mendota and provide a helmet for each participant.
• Westside Family Preservation Services: Support the opening of a new center, which will serve approximately 800 youth ages 10–24.

Sanger

• Junior Achievement of Northern California: Improve the financial literacy of middle and high school students in Sanger with Economics and Personal Finance courses.

Shafter

• Community Action Partnership of Kern: Distribute free, fresh produce to thousands of people in Delano, Shafter, and Wasco.
• Kern County Department of Human Services: Increase the enrollment of eligible individuals in the CalFresh program in Delano, Shafter, and Wasco.

Wasco

• Kern County Library: Provide books, resources, and literacy programs to 96,245 community members in Wasco, Delano, and Lost Hills, as well as a sprinter van that will be converted into a library on wheels for outreach events.

For more information, please visit www.wonderfulcommunitygrants.com.  

About Wonderful Community Grants
The Wonderful Company and its owners, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, have a long-standing commitment to invest in the communities their employees call home, especially in California's Central Valley. In addition to the millions of dollars the Resnicks and The Wonderful Company invest in the Central Valley every year, the Wonderful Community Grants program provides critical funding to organizations impacting change throughout the area. Area nonprofits, local governments, schools, and faith-based organizations can apply for grants in the categories of health and wellness, family support, COVID-19 recovery efforts, and community beautification for amounts between $1,000 and $100,000. Funds are available for program development/expansion, innovation, technology, and equipment. More information about Wonderful Community Grants can be found at www.wonderfulcommunitygrants.com. 

About The Wonderful Company
The Wonderful Company is a privately held $5 billion global company dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world. Its iconic brands include FIJI^® Water, POM Wonderful^®, Wonderful^® Pistachios, Wonderful^® Halos^®, Wonderful^® Seedless Lemons, Teleflora^®, JUSTIN^®, JNSQ™, and Landmark^® wines. 

The Wonderful Company's connection to consumers has health at its heart and giving back in its DNA. To learn more about The Wonderful Company, its products, and its core values, visit www.wonderful.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To view the current Corporate Social Responsibility report, visit www.wonderful.com/csr.

SOURCE The Wonderful Company