LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 27, 2014) -
Who : Citi, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, Low Income Investment Fund, Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Congressmember Karen Bass, Debbie Allen, DeAndre Jordan (LA Clippers), and Shannon Boxx (Chicago Red Stars)
What : A celebration of the newly established 4,000-square-foot garden and athletic field at an Alliance College-Ready Public Schools campus aimed at giving families and students the knowledge and resources they need to live healthier lives. Over 300 Alliance teachers, students, and family members gathered to celebrate the opening of the first Citi Garden and its first harvest.
The day's festivities included tours of the new garden, opening remarks, a performance by the Alliance Luskin Choir & Dance Group, cooking demonstrations, a performance by the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, and ProCamps events with professional athletes DeAndre Jordan (LA Clippers) and Shannon Boxx (Chicago Red Stars).
Where: Alliance Renee & Meyer Luskin High School/ Alliance College Ready Middle Academy 7
When : This past Saturday, October 25 th
Why : In addition to providing access to exclusive culinary events and easy ways to pay, Citi is helping to provide a source of fresh food to local communities. Citi is making a commitment to help increase access to fresh, affordable food and nutrition education through its Citi Gardens initiative. Through the program Citi would like to engage local communities, cardmembers and employees to support this important cause. For more information, visit www.citi.com/cititable
About Citi Gardens In recent years, food insecurity has become an even greater issue of national concern in the United States. Currently, close to 50 million people in the U.S. do not have ready access to fresh, healthy and affordable food. Unfortunately, 16 million children (1 in 5) live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life.
Recognizing the need for a multi-sector response, Citi Cards has launched the Food on All Tables initiative as part of its Citi Table dining platform. Food on All Tables demonstrates Citi's interest in addressing food insecurity, an issue of major national concern.
A goal of the initiative is to increase food access and fresh sources of produce in the communities where Citi does business. Through the program Citi would like to engage local communities, cardmembers and employees to support this important cause.
The Food on All Tables initiative was launched in June, 2014. Citi Cards, in partnership with the nonprofit Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), has established the new 4,000-square-foot garden and athletic field at an Alliance College-Ready Public Schools campus in order to give families and students the knowledge and resources they need to live healthier lives. Approximately 94% of students attending schools on the campus qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Additionally, the garden will be a focal point of a newly developed nutritional curriculum which will be implemented in the school's science curriculum starting fall 2014.
This spring, over 200 Alliance teachers, students and family members helped break ground, build and plant the garden. Today, we celebrate the grand opening of the garden and its first harvest. Citi Cards and LIIF are proud to partner with Alliance and Los Angeles Conservation Corps to bring this project to the South Los Angeles neighborhood and support active and healthy futures for residents in the community. For more information please visit www.citi.com/cititable .
About Alliance College-Ready Public Schools Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is the largest and most successful charter school organization in Los Angeles, operating 26 free, public charter schools that educate 11,000 low-income students. Alliance schools significantly outperform both Los Angeles Unified School District and the State of California on almost every measure. Of incoming 9th graders, 94% graduate in four years LAUSD and and 95% of Alliance graduates are accepted to college. Four Alliance schools were named in the Top 25 Most Transformative Schools in the nation by Newsweek, and this year seven were named in the top 8% of all high schools nationwide by U.S. News & World Report. Alliance's goal is to move beyond educational "islands of excellence" and prove that a high quality public education for all students can be the rule, and not the exception. For more information please visit www.laalliance.org
About the Low Income Investment Fund The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) invests capital to support healthy families and communities. Since 1984, LIIF has served 1.7 million people by investing $1.5 billion. Over its history, LIIF has provided financing and technical assistance to create and preserve affordable housing, child care centers, schools, healthy food retail, health clinics and transit-oriented development in distressed neighborhoods nationwide. LIIF's work has generated $30 billion in family income and societal benefits. LIIF has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.liifund.org .
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