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ACEL Charter School To Develop Community Garden

Garden to be on the Chukchansi Park premises for 2013
November 7, 2012
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno Grizzlies Community Fund and ACEL Fresno Charter High School are proud to announce the formation of a partnership to develop a community garden on the premises of Chukchansi Park. ACEL Charter High School students will volunteer to establish and maintain the community garden starting in November of 2012 through September of 2013. In addition to the garden site, the Grizzlies Community Fund will also donate $1,600 to ACEL for garden construction materials. Fresno Metro Ministry will help the ACEL students develop and maintain the community garden.

"Chukchansi Park is ready to go Farm Grown just like the entire Fresno Grizzlies organization," said Chris Cummings, Managing General Partner and Team President of the Fresno Grizzlies. "We look forward to working with ACEL in developing an education component to the stadium that stresses agriculture and the sustainability of the Central San Joaquin Valley. The goal is to maintain a successful community garden as part of a larger Chukchansi Park Community Farm for the entire 2013 Grizzlies baseball season."

The process of creating a community farm began at Chukchansi Park immediately after the end of the 2012 season. With the support of the City of Fresno, the Grizzlies staff removed shrubs beyond the left and center field wall's to provide a large farming area. The gardens are expected to have themes such as "Pizza" or "Salsa," and once a month during the baseball season, Farm Grown will invite agricultural partners to offer fans a "taste of the farm." Any yields from the community gardens will be contributed to a local organization that serves the hungry or sold at minimal cost to benefit the Grizzlies Community Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

ACEL's community garden and other farming plots at Chukchansi Park will highlight the growing of vegetables, grapes, nuts, stone fruits and other popular Central Valley products. Other agricultural organizations may create their own garden plot to grow alongside ACEL's. They will all have the goals of displaying and showcasing agriculture, promoting good nutrition, and encouraging home gardening.

The Farm Grown program was launched by the Grizzlies and the Grizzlies Community Fund in April of 2012. The mission of Farm Grown is to promote the agricultural heritage and philanthropic vitality of the Central San Joaquin Valley through the building of meaningful partnerships in support of education and healthy living. The community garden at Chukchansi Park will serve the program's mission by showcasing students in an urban setting the importance of agriculture to the region as well as promote healthy eating for students.

For more information on how to sponsor the Farm Grown program, please contact Jerry James (559-320-2511) or Mona Cummings (559-288-4947) of the Grizzlies front office.