On Monday, June 20, 2022, Planet Bee Foundation celebrated #NationalPollinatorWeek with The GIANT Company as they unveiled two new beehives and welcomed bees back to their headquarters in Carlisle, PA. Over the next several months their seven-acre pollinator-friendly solar field will ultimately house 450,000 honeybees and nine beehives. Earlier this year, The GIANT Company experienced a devastating theft of their bees and beehives. They sadly learned that this happens to beekeepers far too often. In their commitment to local communities, they decided to take action to support other beekeepers impacted by colony decline and theft.
“Recognizing the impact bee colony loss has on our local food supply chain, we knew we would bring honey bees back to our corporate headquarters, but not everyone is as fortunate as us. That’s why we also wanted to support other local beekeepers impacted by this issue, too,” said Nicholas Bertram, president of The GIANT Company.
In partnership with The GIANT Company, Planet Bee awarded grants to five central Pennsylvania beekeepers, totaling $10,000. The beekeepers will use the funds to replace bee colonies, rebuild beehives, and continue research.
“This grant will allow me to enhance bee breeding efforts, which ultimately enable better survival rates and provide strong queens to other local beekeepers in the Midstate,” said John Patterson, Central Pennsylvania beekeeper.
We all can make choices, small steps to heal our planet every day. From March to May, customers of GIANT, Martin’s and GIANT Heirloom Markets were given the opportunity to “round up” their purchase prices to the nearest dollar. An overwhelming number of customers chose to generously donate to the Healing Our Planet campaign in support of agricultural education and environmental stewardship programs like Planet Bee Foundation.
During the National Pollinator Week event, The GIANT Company generously donated $300,000 from its Healing Our Planet Campaign to Planet Bee Foundation in support of their environmental STEM program centered around the powerful pollination of bees! “The continued support of The GIANT Company allows us to impact learners and communities by teaching about the importance of bees to our food systems and ecosystems, to cultivate the green leaders of tomorrow through the power of science and stewardship”, exclaimed Debra Tomaszewski. “We are honored to make a difference together on this vital journey to healing our planet.”
Providing students with environmental awareness and respect for bees from an early age is the surest path to creating the changes our planet needs to thrive. The donation allows Planet Bee Foundation to offer standards-based environmental STEM lessons to schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia at NO COST, bringing opportunities to under-resourced districts and reaching a broader audience of learners. Today’s learners are tomorrow’s leaders!
To learn more about Planet Bee programs and the latest buzz on bees, visit planetbee.org and follow Planet Bee Foundation @planet_bee on Instagram, @planetbeefoundation on Facebook, Planet Bee Foundation on LinkedIn and @planet_bee on Twitter.
In addition to the generous support of Planet Bee’s educational programs, a donation was also made to Rodale Institute.
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Written by Tashia James
Planet Bee Project Coordinator