Giant, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful award 23 community improvement grants

Giant, in partnership with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, has announced the 23 recipients of its 2023 Healing the Planet grant program. Announced earlier this year, $300,000 in funding was awarded in support of projects that address food waste prevention, reduction and recovery across Giant’s operating area. The recipients were announced at an event at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., which received $20,000 to complete an anaerobic digester project for conversion of community food waste and dairy manure into biogas and grid-tied electricity.

“As a grocer, we understand the choices we make and the steps we take to divert food waste from landfills are crucial in helping to heal our planet,” said Jessica Groves, community impact manager at Giant. “What we are doing to reduce food waste now, whether it’s the projects of our 23 Healing the Planet grant awardees, or through our daily operations, will create a more sustainable tomorrow for us all.”

Grants range from $2,500 up to $20,000. Projects located in Giant’s operating areas within Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia or West Virginia were eligible. Funding for the grants was provided by customers at Giant, Martin’s and Giant Heirloom Market stores who rounded up their grocery purchase to the nearest dollar from March through May, which raised a total of $1.4 million for program partners which also included Rodale Institute and Planet Bee Foundation.

[Read more: Giant releases community impact report]

The following Pennsylvania organizations are the recipients of a 2023 Healing the Planet grant from Giant and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful:

• ACLAMO, Norristown
• AGAPE: Love From Above To Our Community, Bloomsburg
• Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust, Philadelphia
• Benner Elementary School, Bellefonte
• Bucks County Housing Group, Warminster
• Child Hunger Outreach Partners, Towanda
• City of Lancaster, Lancaster Compost Co-Op, Lancaster
• Creative Community Grow, Harrisburg
• Curwensville Area High School, Curwensville
• Dickinson College, Carlisle
• Evergreen Elementary School, Collegeville
• Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia
• Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education, York
• Indiana County Conservation District, Indiana
• Penbrook Lions and Leo Clubs, Harrisburg
• Pennsylvania Resources Council, Media
• Phoenixville Area Community Services Inc., Phoenixville
• Quiet Creek Herb Farm & School of Country Living, Brookville
• Riverside School District, Taylor
• Share Food Program, Philadelphia
• South Philadelphia Community Fridge (Project of Open Collective Foundation), Covina
• The Advocacy Project, Washington
• York Fresh Food Farms, York

[Read more: Giant partners with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to offer Healing the Planet grant program]

“On behalf of Dickinson College and the farm, we are grateful to Giant and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful for their support of our food waste to energy initiative,” said Matt Steiman, energy and livestock manager at Dickinson College. “This project will benefit farmers, the watershed and our climate. We are elated and look forward to working with these local partners to make our community more sustainable.”

All funded projects address food waste prevention, reduction and or recovery and can include community composting, increased access to compost for agricultural producers, educational programs regarding food waste prevention, reduction and recovery and diversion of food waste from landfills.  Community gardens are eligible for funding but must have a food waste prevention, reduction and or recovery component, such as education.

Since 2021, the Healing the Planet grant program has awarded more than $1.3 million to 110 recipients for projects connecting communities to green spaces and improved or helped to protect local waterways and water resources.

“Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is proud to support the many organizations, schools and cities who are using and creating inventive ways to assure food waste is being prevented, reduced and recovered,” said Shannon Reiter, president of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “Not only do these types of projects save natural resources and reduce the amount of material that enters the waste stream, in some cases, they will also provide food security to those in need. We are honored to continue our partnership with The Giant Company to provide opportunities to make a difference in the efficiencies of food waste within Pennsylvania communities. We also want to thank all of you who ‘rounded up’ at the register. Your generosity will directly impact your local community.”