New Leaf Community Markets Presents $2,500 Grant to Life Lab

Show in the Life Lab Garden Classroom at UC Santa Cruz (from left): Emily Mastellone-Snyder, Associate Director for Development, Life Lab and Kate Halper, Marketing Manager for New Leaf Community Markets.

New Leaf Community Markets’ partnership with charitable organization Making Change has helped New Leaf raise $2,500 in donations from customers for Life Lab, a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit that cultivates children's love of learning, healthy food, and nature through garden-based education.

Since New Leaf established a partnership with Making Change in 1989, New Leaf has raised a total of $120,337 for dozens of local nonprofit organizations. Making Change provides New Leaf with point-of-purchase fundraising materials at no cost that are displayed at checkout stands at New Leaf stores in Santa Cruz and Capitola. Customers select a donation coupon for a certain amount of money that is scanned by cashiers. Making change tallies the donations and disburses the funds to New Leaf who selects the beneficiaries.

“New Leaf has been one our most important community partners. They’ve provided financial and program support for over 20 years based on the shared value of helping children to develop lifelong healthy eating habits from an early age. We are honored to be part of the New Leaf family,” said Emily Mastellone-Snyder, Associate Director for Development.

“We are proud to partner with Making Change these 28 years to support vital nonprofits in our community like Life Lab. Making Change is an extraordinary organization that has raised over $100 million to fund
non-profit organizations in the United States and around the world,” said Kate Halper, Marketing Manager for New Leaf Community Markets.” We are also extremely grateful for the generosity of our New Leaf customers who make this donation possible,” Halper added.

About New Leaf Community Markets
A natural grocery company with five stores, New Leaf has been serving the community for 31 years. New Leaf is committed to offering customers choices that have the most beneficial impact on their health and the health of the environment. Helping customers make informed decisions is an integral part of this commitment. A wholly owned subsidiary of New Seasons Market since November 2013, New Leaf is the first grocer in California to achieve B Corporation certification, which means that New Leaf uses the power of business to solve social and economic problems. New Leaf’s mission, to nourish and sustain our community, is reflected in the 10 percent of profits given annually to support local nonprofits working to improve the quality of life. Connect at: www.newleaf.com.

About Life Lab

Life Lab cultivates children's love of learning, healthy food, and nature through garden-based education. Since its founding at Green Acres Elementary School in Live Oak in 1979, Life Lab has helped schools throughout the community develop garden classrooms as living labs for rich, hands-on science, environmental, and nutrition education. Today, more than 5,000 local children connect with soil, plants, nature and healthy foods each year in programs at the Life Lab Garden Classroom on the UCSC Farm and the Blooming Classroom educational garden and partner school gardens in Watsonville. Thousands more find inspiration and learning in established Life Lab gardens at schools across the county, as well. As a national leader in its field, Life Lab also provides training and curriculum for educators across the U.S., impacting more than 400,000 children’s lives annually. Life Lab is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (FEIN# 94-2778848) based at the UC Santa Cruz Farm since 1988. More information is available at www.LifeLab.org