HEINEKEN USA Partners with GrowNYC to Celebrate Giving Tuesday and to Aid Local Community Gardens

In support of #GivingTuesday, HEINEKEN USA (headquartered in White Plains, NY) gave back to the community on Tuesday, December 2, when they partnered up again with the leading NYC environmental nonprofit, GrowNYC. HEINEKEN USA partnered up with GrowNYC last year for its annual Day of Giving program to renovate the La Finca del Sur Community Garden located in South Bronx, N.Y. Plans were made to partner up again to renovate another Bronx garden in October, but unfortunately this year’s event had to be cancelled due to weather issues.

As part of the #GivingTuesday partnership, HEINEKEN USA unveiled its “Giving Trees,” which have tags for employees to either purchase a requested item (i.e., gloves, shovels, watering cans, etc.) or donate money towards helping local community gardens. The tags on the trees also include factual information about the garden that the employee would be supporting (i.e., name of garden, parks to people ratio in that neighborhood, availability of healthy foods in the neighborhoods, etc.). Facts also state how community gardens help cut down on crime, promote healthy living, and provide a creative outlet and safe space for community members. An option was also provided for employees to pledge a commitment of their time to serve the local community that could be leveraged during HEINEKEN USA’s next Day of Givingin the spring of 2015.

As part of its overall commitment to community involvement through its Brewing a Better World global initiative, HEINEKEN USA pledged to make an impact by giving back to local communities through urban greening initiatives across the U.S. Since 2007, the company has collectively committed more than 7,000 volunteer hours to help create and maintaingreen spaces in New York City and White Plains.