Hy-Vee donates to Live Well Montgomery County

Live Well Montgomery County’s community garden received a major funding boost from Hy-Vee.

Red Oak Hy-Vee store director Mike Webb, representing Hy-Vee, Inc. presented a check for $11,655 to the Live Well Montgomery County community garden project as part of its Hy-Vee One Step program on Sept. 10.

The One Step Garden Grants will be used to purchase seeds, plants, garden tools and food preservation equipment for community gardens.

“One Step Garden Grants are given to community gardens that provide fresh, healthy food for their communities, and teach those in need about health and nutrition through the process of planting, tending and harvesting their own fruits and vegetables,” Webb said. “We’re so pleased to present this grant to Live Well Montgomery County garden project to help with the great work they do.”

Webb added the community garden generated a large quantity of food, which was donated around the county.

“So far this year, the community garden has donated roughly 500 pounds of food to area food banks. People can get a lot of canned and dry goods at the food banks, but thanks to the community garden, they also have a lot of fresh vegetable options to choose from,” said Webb.

Hy-Vee’s One Step program uses a portion of the proceeds from the sale of earth-friendly, everyday products to benefit local and worldwide charitable causes. From every sale of a five-pound bag of One Step Russet Potatoes, 5 cents goes to funding community gardens. Community groups and organizations applied online for the grants, and their applications were judged on a number of areas including demonstrated participation of community stakeholders and intended use of the garden’s produce.

In all, Hy-Vee is awarding $125,000 in grants to 10 community gardens this year, with Live Well Montgomery County receiving almost one tenth of that funding. Since 2013, the One Step Garden Grant program has helped grow 750 gardens in Hy-Vee’s eight state region.