Forty fresh produce industry professionals rode into the Whole Foods Market Sandy Springs parking lot on Thursday, Oct. 22 to celebrate a four-day, 300-mile bike ride from Hickory, NC, to Atlanta in support of Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools. Welcomed by event sponsors, industry leaders and local shoppers, riders were greeted with cheers and high fives as the crowd anxiously awaited the announcement of total funds raised by the participants of Tour de Fresh in its second year.

Cindy Jewell, vice president of marketing at California Giant Berry Farms, announced at the Finish Line Ceremony that the event raised $150,000, surpassing last year’s $142,000 fundraising efforts.Cindy Jewell, vice president of marketing at California Giant Berry Farms, announced $150,000 in funds raised for Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools at the Tour de Fresh Finish Line Ceremony. Earning more than $50,000 in the last week of the event, Jewell stated that she was confident that the event would continue to bring in funds throughout the next couple weeks in order to meet the 2015 goal of $195,000, which would place approximately 60 salad bars in schools across the country. Since the Finish Line Ceremony, Tour de Fresh has raised an additional $10,000 in cash and checks, bringing the total to more than $160,000.  

“I couldn’t be prouder of this group of industry professionals who have taken their own personal time to become so actively involved in raising money for salad bars in schools,” Jewell said in a press release. “We’re so thankful to everyone who has supported these riders, and hope to continue to grow our fundraising efforts in order to provide access to fresh fruits and vegetables to thousands of children across the country.”

Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, led by the United Fresh Start Foundation, has facilitated donations to more than 4,100 schools across the country in the last five years, providing enough salad bars to benefit more than three million students every day. The partnership between Tour de Fresh and Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools offers the produce industry an opportunity to be directly involved in supporting its own industry for the benefit of others — something that means the world to these riders and brand supporters.

“As we look into planning for next year’s Tour de Fresh, we will be relying on sponsor and rider feedback to develop an even better event for 2016 and subsequent years,” Brock Nemecek, account director at DMA Solutions Inc. and member of the Tour de Fresh Steering Committee, said in the release. “It was such a pleasure to be a part of this group of riders, knowing that every one of them had a heart to serve the next generations, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”