As the Director of Partnership Development and Internal Programs for Whole Planet Foundation, Joy Peterson helps develop strategic partnerships and guides our Team Member Volunteer Program.
Two weeks ago Whole Planet Foundation announced our Changing The World, Together campaign to raise $1.5 million for 40,000 impoverished people living in communities around the globe where Whole Foods Market sources products. We are off to an excellent start with over $750,000 so far. Thank you! Don’t forget you have until March 31st to donate at our stores or online.
One of the heart-warming aspects of the fundraising side of things with Whole Planet Foundation is having the opportunity to partner with like-minded companies who are committed to planting seeds of prosperity around the world. Our Supplier Alliance for Microcredit was created with founding members Allegro Coffee Company, Back to Nature, Balance Bar, Celestial Seasonings, Earth’s Best, Ito En, Naked Juice, New Chapter, Seventh Generation, Stacy’s, Teas’ Tea and, of course, Whole Foods Market. Along with our newest member, Cascal, this alliance has pledged $1.2 million to support our microlending programs. Read the rest of this entry »
…With these recipes inspired by Whole Planet Foundation microcredit clients.
Whole Planet Foundation empowers entrepreneurs in our global communities through microcredit, and this month marks the beginning of Whole Planet Foundation’s Annual Prosperity Campaign. Now through March 31st, please join fellow Whole Foods Market shoppers, team members, Supplier Alliance for Microcredit partners and online donors to help raise $1.5 million for 40,000 impoverished people living in communities around the globe where Whole Foods Market sources products. These people, places and products have inspired us to create recipes honoring them.
To get in the spirit, check out these recipes inspired by Whole Planet Foundation microcredit clients from around the world:
Now through March 31st, please join fellow Whole Foods Market shoppers, team members, Supplier Alliance for Microcredit partners and online donors to help raise $1.5 million for 40,000 impoverished people living in communities around the globe where Whole Foods Market sources products. We run this campaign each year to give back globally and empower the very poor with microcredit loans to create or expand home-based businesses such as weaving, raising chickens and small-scale agriculture, providing an opportunity to lift themselves and their family out of poverty. Read the rest of this entry »
As the Internal Programs Ambassador with Whole Planet Foundation I know I am truly blessed, but my recent trip to Haiti with Programs Manager Steve Wanta reminded me just how much. Though prepared for tough conditions, I was shocked at the devastation caused by four tropical storms in 2008 and the level of poverty. Then I met Norzina, who is strong and resilient and changing her own life with access to microcredit from Fonkoze (our partner organization). I feel blessed that we, Whole Planet Foundation, Whole Foods Market, Team Members, shoppers, vendors and Fonkoze are all working together to offer women like Norzina the gift of microcredit.
Whole Foods Market sources Whole Trade Guarantee mangoes from Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Inspired by this connection, Whole Planet Foundation provided a $490,249 grant over three years to our implementing partner, Fonkoze, who offers financial services tailored to meet the needs of impoverished Haitians.
One of my favorite parts of our trip was when Norzina invited us to join her in cooking Soupe Joumou, a delicious pumpkin soup known as “Liberation Soup (recipe).” Watch this video to learn why.
The New Year is fast approaching and you don’t want to get caught with a calendar that is “so last year” still hanging on your wall. Here to help is the third annual edition of the Whole Planet Foundation calendar featuring beautiful photographs of inspiring entrepreneurs from Peru, Bolivia, India, Haiti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, the United States and East Timor.
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill calendar! This one not only helps you keep track of your busy life but also helps you save on your favorite products with over $30 in coupons and ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of these calendars benefit Whole Planet Foundation microcredit clients. All that for $2. Seriously, $2.
Last year, our shoppers purchased $72,000 in calendars and empowered 1,775 poor women and their family members with microloans to create or expand a home-based business and create prosperity. These women live in communities where the products you purchase at Whole Foods Market are sourced. We’re hoping to raise a bit more this year so we can empower 2,000 more women with an opportunity to change their own lives and lift themselves out of poverty.
And if that wasn’t incentive enough, our vendor partners came through with some great coupons to sweeten the deal. $3 off from New Chapter, $3 off Seventh Generation, $2 off GoodBelly, $1 off Ben & Jerry’s, $1 off Nature’s Path, $1 off Muir Glen, $1 off Whole Trade Guarantee Vegan Sugar, just to name a few. You can see the whole coupon list for more incentive.
Pick up your copy (or two or three!) of the Whole Planet Foundation 2010 Calendar in your local U.S. Whole Foods Market store through January. Thanks for your help in making this a happy New Year… in more ways than one.
A huge shout out goes to everyone who supported the Whole Planet Foundation’s 2009 Prosperity Campaign. Thanks to the generosity of shoppers and team members, over $1.8 million was donated – 100% of which goes to microlending programs! (Remember, Whole Foods Market covers all operating expenses of Whole Planet Foundation).
Our Team Members put lots of energy into sharing information about Whole Planet Foundation with our customers. As an incentive and reward for all of their hard work, several Team Members were treated to a trip to Guatemala where they met local participants and experienced the power of microcredit firsthand. (Trips paid for by Whole Foods Market – not on the dime of the Foundation!).
Here’s a video that takes us along on a bit of their journey.
Whole Planet Foundation is funding microcredit in 15 communities around the globe that supply products to Whole Foods Market, including Bolivia, Costa Rica, East Timor, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Nicaragua, Thailand, Peru and the United States. Over $6 million in Whole Planet Foundation microloans has been disbursed through implementing partners to more than 50,000 poor women, with a repayment rate of 97%, enabling them to create or expand small home-based businesses and lift themselves out of poverty.
Stay tuned for information on our 2010 Prosperity Campaign – beginning in February.
Join Whole Planet Foundation in Peña Blanca, an impoverished, rural community in the Lake Atitlán region of Guatemala where Whole Foods Market sources coffee. To empower this community to lift itself out of poverty, Whole Planet Foundation and Grameen Trust initiated a microlending project here in 2006, and the next year Whole Foods Market Team Members began providing community service like teaching literacy skills and providing meals for the children of this Mayan community.
We, The Green Children, are very happy to announce the release of our single and music video Hear Me Now to help support the work of Whole Planet Foundation and raise awareness about the power of microcredit to help people lift themselves out of poverty.
After our first trip to Bangladesh, we were so inspired by Grameen Bank, its leader Prof. Muhammad Yunus and the power of small loans that we knew we had to write a song! After the song was written, we knew that a video had to be made and this was the result. It was made in Bangladesh to celebrate the incredible women who are clients of Grameen Bank (known as “the bank for the poor”).
Hear Me Now is also available on iTunes, and we are donating 50% of our proceeds to help fund a Whole Planet Foundation and Grameen Trust microlending project in Kerala, India, aiming to extend access to microcredit to over 22,000 impoverished people.
Help us spread a positive message: the poor don’t always need a hand out, but with a hand up, great things can happen!
Thank you so much,
Milla Sunde & Tom Bevan (The Green Children)
The Green Children, Milla and Tom, in Guatemala with Whole Planet Foundation President Philip Sansone
In this final installment of Dispatches from the Field, Steve visits the Pro Mujer
headquarters in Salta, Argentina and operations in Tucuman, Argentina, where Whole Foods Market sources blueberries. His interviews with Pro Mujer clients, Pinky and Graciela, unveil the power of access to credit in their communities, where these women have been able to build support networks and find access to affordable healthcare services.
On this leg of his trip through South America, Steve explores Paraguay and opportunities for building a microcredit program in the country where Whole Foods Market sources its organic sugar cane. Steve experiences the hospitality of folks who remember Phillip Sansone, Executive Director of the Whole Planet Foundation, from his days as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay over 30 years ago.
Welcome to Whole Story, the official blog of Whole Foods Market.
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We’re lucky to have a whole bunch of smart, passionate people doing incredible things in areas like organics, supporting local growers, green practices, fair trade, micro-lending and all kinds of food related stuff. We’ll use this blog to share some of the cool things going on around here.
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One of the heart-warming aspects of the fundraising side of things with Whole Planet Foundation is having the opportunity to partner with like-minded companies who are committed to planting seeds of prosperity around the world. Our Supplier Alliance for Microcredit was created with founding members Allegro Coffee Company, Back to Nature, Balance Bar, Celestial Seasonings, Earth’s Best, Ito En, Naked Juice, New Chapter, Seventh Generation, Stacy’s, Teas’ Tea and, of course, Whole Foods Market. Along with our newest member, Cascal, this alliance has pledged $1.2 million to support our microlending programs. Read the rest of this entry »
As the Internal Programs Ambassador with 
Last year, our shoppers purchased $72,000 in calendars and empowered 1,775 poor women and their family members with microloans to create or expand a home-based business and create prosperity. These women live in communities where the products you purchase at Whole Foods Market are sourced. We’re hoping to raise a bit more this year so we can empower 2,000 more women with an opportunity to change their own lives and lift themselves out of poverty.
$3 off from New Chapter, $3 off Seventh Generation, $2 off GoodBelly, $1 off Ben & Jerry’s, $1 off Nature’s Path, $1 off Muir Glen, $1 off Whole Trade Guarantee Vegan Sugar, just to name a few. You can see 
