Foundation offers $2,000 grants, along with curriculum, resources and mentorship, to 1,000 schools for School Gardens

Whole Kids Foundation™ Taking Root With School Garden Grant Program – To be considered, applications must be received by 5pm CST, December 31, 2011.

AUSTIN, Texas. (Aug. 17, 2011) — Whole Kids Foundation in partnership with FoodCorps is now accepting online grant applications for its first major initiative, the School Garden Grant Program, which will be funded by a six-week, in-store donation drive at all Whole Foods Market stores, and online at wholekidsfoundation.org, from Aug. 17 to Sept. 30.

Created to help schools grow students’ relationships with food through gardening, the new program stems from the nonprofit’s mission of supporting schools’ efforts to improve children’s nutrition.

Through the Whole Kids School Garden Grant Program, the Foundation and partner FoodCorps will offer $2,000 grants, along with curriculum, resources and mentorship, to 1,000 schools. FoodCorps’ expertise in gardening, and its ongoing support will help schools build and sustain their gardens to ensure long-term success. All schools and garden-related nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for grants to support the launch or expansion of school gardens.

“The School Garden Grant Program makes nutritious foods and healthy-eating education relevant and exciting for kids, and it extends learning outside the classroom,” said Walter Robb, Whole Foods Market co-CEO and Whole Kids Foundation board chairman. “Gardens are such a magical place. As kids see plants growing and coming to life and they realize that food doesn’t come out of a box or off a truck, but that it comes out of the ground from a seed, it makes relationship between food and nourishment real.”

More details here.