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ScottsMiracle-Gro Launches 2014 GRO1000 Showcase Events

Enhancing Our Cities

On March 22, ScottsMiracle-Gro commenced its series of five GRO1000 Showcase events in Houston, TX. More than 150 children and dozens of volunteers, including area residents and ScottsMiracle-Gro associates, city officials and GRO1000 national and local partners, helped develop a new educational greenspace at the Gabriel Mistral Center for Early Childhood in Houston's Gulfton community.

In an effort to provide the Gulfton neighborhood with additional access to green spaces and yards, ScottsMiracle-Gro will oversee the development of a new nature playground and garden to encourage outdoor learning and support the healthy development of area children and families. The Gabriel Mistral Center for Early Childhood project will reestablish ScottsMiracle- Gro as a predominant donor in the Houston community as the company has previously supported two community and school-based green space initiatives.

Launched in 2011, GRO1000 was designed as a community outreach initiative to grow 1,000 community gardens and green spaces by 2018, our company's 150th is designed to provide schools, neighborhoods, and communities in need with the benefits that greenspaces provide, such as offsetting pollution, bettering access to fresh produce, promoting physical activity, and lowering stress. The garden and nature playground at the Gabriela Mistral Center for Early Childhood will support Mayor Parker's "Go Healthy Houston Initiative and Task Force," which is focused on reducing obesity, increasing healthy eating and exercise and promoting urban agriculture.

At the GRO1000 kickoff event, volunteers, children, and ScottsMiracle-Gro associates installed container gardens, fruit trees, compost bins, rain barrels, and a playhouse, among other activities. Houston Mayor Annise Parker commented on the green space projects transforming the city, stating "From the expansive Buffalo Bayou Park, to the nature playground and garden at Gabriela Mistral Center, every development enhances our city and encourages our citizens to become healthier. What's really cool about this project is that children can learn and have an adventure right in their own community."

ScottsMiracle-Gro has supported two other large-scale green space projects in Houston. In 2010, the Westbury Community Garden was established as the first community garden in the Westbury area. And in 2011, a series of wildlife and community gardens was developed at Piney Point Elementary School to provide an outdoor learning setting for students.