Whole Cities is awarding 10 community-directed organizations an average of $19,895 each to advance community health through our Newark Fresh, Healthy Food Access Grant. It’s a $198,950 investment in locally led initiatives that spans all five wards in Newark, New Jersey!

As our new President and Chairperson, Alyssa Vescio is known for her emphasis on authenticity, connectivity and collective strength. We recently sat down with Alyssa to talk about her path to Whole Foods Market Foundation, her experiences visiting community partners, and what’s on the horizon.

Our programs have been helping individuals and their communities thrive for many years, and that work isn’t changing. It’s evolving.

We're excited to announce that Amazon Fresh is continuing to support the Foundation’s Garden Grant Program for the second year in a row! Amazon Fresh will help fund an additional 48 gardens at schools, giving more kids the opportunity to learn about where their food comes from through hands-on experiences.

It’s a big year for garden grants! Not only have we increased the value of our garden grant by $500—making each grant worth a total of $3,500— we’re also proud to award 950 schools with transformational funding. All together, that’s $3,325,000 in garden grants this year alone!

Earlier this year, over 36,000 Team Members across Whole Foods Market participated in the Foundation's annual Choice 4 Change (C4C) vote. Team Members used their voice to help the Foundation determine how to invest an additional $545,000 in food access programs. Now, we are happy to announce this year's Choice 4 Change partners who will help to increase the number of salad bars in schools, support smallholder farmers, and amplify the efforts of healthy nonprofit food retailers.