Help Community Gardens

The season for giving isn't really a season, is it? It's really a year round effort and some companies are getting very creative in their efforts to reach out and get people involved in their causes.

One such company is Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi. Even if you're not a wine drinker, chances are you've heard of Robert Mondavi wines. After founding a successful winery in Napa Valley in the 1960's, Mondavi opened Woodbridge in 1979, outside his childhood hometown of Lodi, California. Fast forward to today and Robert Mondavi is one of THE names on the California wine scene.

Giving Through Growing is Mondavi's way of giving back to the community, specifically community gardens. If you're not familiar with community gardens, these little pieces of paradise in the middle of urban sprawl are what brings people together and gets them involved in their community. By teaching people to garden and grow their own food, the community feels not only a sense of pride in their surroundings, but also a sense of purpose. They are contributing to the success of the community while contributing to the success of themselves.

Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi is partnering with the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) through their Giving Through Growing program. The mission of ACGA is to build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada. This non-profit works with professionals, volunteers, and supporters to turn the dream of a community garden into a reality.

You can help the cause by sending an eseed. Eseeds are virtual seeds you grow in few clicks. Simply go to www.woodbridgewines.com/CBICMS/woodbridge/garden/index.html and enter your date of birth (you have to be 21years of age to send an eseed). Enter your name and e-mail, and the names and e-mails of people you wish to send eseeds to. Then pick the type of seed you would like to send. Mom chose basil because it smells so sweet. This is the message that is shown next to the seed packet:

With this little eSeed I’m helping grow entire communities. For every virtual eSeed I plant, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi will donate $1 to the American Community Gardening Association, a nonprofit group that supports community gardens around the country. And I think that’s a great cause – community gardens encourage neighbors to work together to grow fresh produce and flowers in unused outdoor spaces.

$1 is donated just by sending an eseed. How easy is that? Participating in this program is a great way to help out communities without even leaving your house. Mom calls this virtual volunteering at its best. I call it a great idea.