Exciting new matching grant campaign for “Fruit for Kids” to provide fruit for 1000 children in the slums

GPM is launching an exciting new matching grant program with The Good People Fund to provide weekly fruit to 1000 children from the slums of Mumbai who are going to school.

If GPM succeeds in raising $9,000 by September for the "Fruit for Kids" program, the Good People Fund will provide an additional $9,000 for a total of $18,000.

The result? 1000 children in the slums of Mumbai will receive delicious and healthy fresh fruit  every week during the 2014-5 school year! 
Help GPM reach this vital goal!

Since 2012, GPM has been providing daily hot nutritious meals to vulnerable children in the Mumbai slums. This has a tremendous impact on every aspect of children’s growth: regular healthy nutrition is vital for children’s bodies, and crucial for their developing minds. By providing daily nutrition, GPM is providing children with basic tools for good health, cognition and development, and is enabling children to stay in school. The impact of this program is significant: REAP reported a 50% increase in attendance rates due to the GPM program.

However, the daily hot meals that GPM provides are not enough. There is one important component still missing from the children's nutritional development: Fruit.

GPM is launching a new “Fruit for Kids” campaign to add regular weekly fruit to the diets of 1000 children learning in school in the Mumbai slums.

It costs all of $18 a year to ensure that a child in the Mumbai slums receives weekly fruit, or $1.50 per month per child for fruit. That’s a total of $18,000 per year to ensure that 1000 children receive fruit, in order to strengthen the nutritional impact of the meals and ensure that the children receive all the nutrients that their beautiful growing bodies need and deserve..

The Good People Fund, who GPM is proud to call a partner and sponsor, has generously decided to rise to this challenge. The Good People Fund has pledged a matching grant of up to $9,000 for the Fruit for Kids campaign, provided that GPM supporters provide the other $9,000. It’s a win win. GPM is partnering with the Good People Fund to launch a new and exciting "Fruit for Kids" campaign to add fruit to the menu

Here are three great reasons why children need fruit:

• Fresh fiber. Fruit is an important source of fiber, which improves digestion while decreasing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
• Vitamins and minerals. Fruit is vital for potassium, which helps keep children's blood pressure balanced; for vitamin C, which boosts immune systems and helps prevent infection; and vitamin A for healthy eyes and folate for normal DNA production. The vitamins and minerals in fruit  also keep children's kidneys working normally, which decreases his risk of kidney stones, and helps build bone mass. Fruit also reduces the risk of certain types of cancer such as throat, esophageal and stomach.
• Cognitive development. Fruit improves brain development, and research shows that a diet rich in fruit actually results in higher test scores. A healthy diet that includes fruit can also increase children's focus in the classroom.

GPM is looking to raise $9000 by September from our donors – to be matched by $9000 from the Good People Fund – and launch the Fruit for Kids campaign in the 2014-15 school year.

Help GPM reach our goal of providing fruit for the children of Mumbai. Support the Good People Fund Matching Grant campaign for the Fruit for Kids program today!