Veggie U awarded $10,000 by Char and Chuck Fowler Foundation

Veggie U, a hands-on classroom program engaging children in the seed-to-plant-to-harvest experience, has been awarded $10,000 for its Cleveland program by the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation.

The Fowlers moved to Cleveland from Indiana in 1988. Chuck Fowler is retired as chief executive of Fairmount Minerals of Chardon, a global supplier of purified industrial sands. In 2011, the privately owned company produced and shipped more than 3.4 million tons of sand, employed nearly 800 and had revenues in excess of $900 million.

The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation is dedicated to improving lives through education, healthcare and the arts. As a family, the Fowlers are heavily involved in the operation of the foundation, with daughters Chann Fowler-Spellman and Holley Fowler Martens serving in administrative roles. The foundation and its trustees have provided million of dollars in funding for Northeast Ohio non-profit organizations since 2003. In the education area, the foundation seeks to fund programs that benefit a significant number of students, preschool through high school, that offer academic enrichment.

Veggie U asked the foundation to support a portion of the funding needed to place new Veggie U Classroom Gardens in Cleveland metropolitan second grades. After eight years of use, the Veggie U equipment used by Cleveland schools need updating. With an anticipated 125 second grade classrooms, the cost to support Veggie U in Cleveland for the 2016-2017 school year is about $56,000.

"We are excited to embark on this partnership with the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation," Nadia Clifford, Veggie U Executive Director said. "The students of an urban system like Cleveland can learn so much from the Classroom Garden education. We are grateful that the foundation recognizes both the opportunity for enhanced learning with the Veggie U program and the need to provide the students with the most updated resources we have available. We are hopeful that our partnership will continue for many more years."