Courtesy photo.
OXNARD — Gill’s Onions will match all donations up to $10,000 for every dollar donated to Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) during the month of May as part of SEEAG’s second annual Double Your Impact Challenge.
Gill’s Onions, based in Oxnard, is one of the nation’s largest family-owned onion growers and processors. Products sold nationally include whole, sliced, diced and slivered onions. It is a long-time supporter of SEEAG’s agricultural education programming that has reached over 60,000 elementary school students in central and southern California since its founding in 2008. All SEEAG programs are 100 percent cost-free to schools and students.
“SEEAG provides an important service to the public,” says Steve Gill, Gill’s Onions president and SEEAG board member. “Its education programs teach young students about where their food comes from, much of which is grown right here locally. Middle and high school students learn about career opportunities in agriculture. SEEAG gets kids excited about eating healthy, which will hopefully impact their eating habits for life.”
“Gill’s Onions is one of SEEAG’s biggest supporters,” says Mary Maranville, SEEAG founder/CEO. “After a year of being out of the classroom and our farm field trips put on hold because of COVID-19, we’re beginning to schedule in-person instruction for this year and next. The $20,000 total donation will help us fulfill SEEAG’s educational mission.”
All “Gill’s Onions Double Your Impact Challenge” matching donations go toward student learning.
Double Giving Levels:
–$25 donation doubles to $50 – Print summer camp booklets for 100 students
–$50 donation doubles to $100 – Pack farm fresh resource bags for 200 students
–$100 donation doubles to $200 – Send 200 students home with vegetable seedlings
–$250 donation doubles to $500 – Fill up the SEEAG van for two weeks of summer camp travel
–$500 donation doubles to $1,000 – Harvest and prepare end-of-camp farm fresh lunches for 800 students
–$1,000 donation doubles to $2,000 – Sent two SEEAG educators to summer camp
Donors at the $100 and above levels will receive a jar of Bennett’s Honey. Donations can be made by going to www.seeag.org/doubleyourimpact.
“This school year we had to adopt our programs to live online distance learning presentations, which also included distributing thousands of bags filled with fresh produce and soil and seed giveaways,” says Maranville. Even during this difficult year, local teachers in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties registered over 2,200 students for our online distance learning programs.”
Gill’s Onion participates in SEEAG’s annual Ventura County Farm Day (scheduled for November 6), where farms, ranches, and agricultural organizations open their doors to the community for an inside look at how food is grown in the county.
To learn more about SEEAG, go to www.SEEAG.org, Facebook www.facebook.com/SEEAG.org or contact Maranville at mary@seeag.org, 805-901-0213.
About SEEAG — Founded in 2008, Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) is a nonprofit organization that aims to help young students understand the origins of their food by bridging the gap between agriculture and consumption through its agricultural education programming. SEEAG’s “The Farm Lab” program teaches schoolchildren about the origins of their food and the importance of local farmland by providing schools with classroom agricultural education and free field trips to farms. Its Child Wellness Initiative in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties educates, inspires and empowers children to eat healthy by adding locally grown fruits and vegetables to their diet to help ward off childhood obesity that could lead to diabetes. Through these and other SEEAG programs, over 60,000 elementary school students in Central and Southern California have increased their understanding of the food journey. SEEAG also holds Farm Days in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties each year where local farms open their doors to the public. For more information, visit www.SEEAG.org or email Mary Maranville at mary@seeag.org