Encinitas-based Sage Garden Project is among several nonprofits in the Southwest that have received donations from the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, Sprouts announced Oct. 8.

The grocer’s foundation has given $375,000 in multiyear funding to Sage Garden as part of $3 million in donations to nonprofit organizations that focus on nutrition education and access to fresh food, according to Sprouts’ announcement.

In addition, Boys & Girls Clubs of San Dieguito — with branches in Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar and Carmel Valley — is the recipient of a Neighborhood Grant from the foundation, which is awarding 118 grants totaling $725,000 to nonprofits across the U.S.

The Sage Garden Project is a program that offers nutritional science curricula to elementary schools. It teaches students how to grow and cook fresh food for themselves, and it has expanded to 25 additional campuses for 2019-20, Sprouts stated.

“Each year, our network of nonprofit partners continues to grow and our work in local communities continues to deepen,” said Lyndsey Waugh, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation executive director. “As a result, children and their families have greater exposure to nutrition education and hands-on cooking and gardening programs in their schools and community centers, and urban farms are increasing access to fresh, nutritious produce in food desert communities.”

Part of Sage Garden’s stated mission is to help reduce childhood diabetes.

“We know that planting and nurturing fruit and vegetables makes kids more likely to try — and actually enjoy — eating these healthy foods they might otherwise dismiss,” the program states on its website.

“Central to Sprouts’ identity is giving back to the communities we operate in, and the Day of Service gives team members the opportunity to engage with the organizations the Foundation supports firsthand,” Waugh said in Sprouts’ announcement.

Information about the Sage Garden Project can be found online at sagegardenproject.org. Find more on the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Dieguito at bgcsandieguito.org. More information about the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation is available at about.sprouts.com/sprouts-foundation.

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