Troy-based Mahindra Announces $75,000 in 2016 Urban Agriculture Grants to Six Non-Profits for Detroit Urban Farming Projects

TROY, Mich., Oct. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mahindra North American Technical Center (MNATC) renewed the company's commitment to Detroit's robust urban agriculture movement with the announcement today of a second round of grant donations, totaling $75,000, to six non-profit organizations. This supplements the $100,000 in grants and equipment donations MNATC and Mahindra North America provided in 2015, the inaugural year of the program.

Today's grant presentations were held in conjunction with MNATC's annual employee community service project at The Greening of Detroit's Detroit Market Garden. More than 70 MNATC employees took a break from their normal business routines and helped prepare beds for winter, harvest fall crops and transplant hundreds of seedlings in preparation for the spring planting season.

"It's humbling to play a role in improving access to nutritious and affordable fresh food within the city limits," said Richard Haas, President and Chief Operating Officer of MNATC. "Our decision to offer grants to urban farming programs in Detroit for a second year was an easy one to make, given the outstanding results the first round of Mahindra Urban Agriculture Grants produced."

The 2016 Mahindra Urban Agriculture Grant recipients and the programs supported by the monetary awards are:

• Capuchin Soup Kitchen - Earthworks Urban Farm Agriculture Training Program ($12,500): to support a nine-month program to train urban farmers and food entrepreneurs.
• Full Circle Foundation ($7,500): to fund development of the entrepreneurial Friends and Flowers Program for developmentally delayed teens and adults. (2015 grant recipient)
• The Greening of Detroit ($20,000): to support the Build-A-Garden program that provides assistance to home gardeners across the city of Detroit. (2015 grant recipient)
• Keep Growing Detroit ($20,000): to establish its fifth Resource Hub in Southwest Detroit to provide tools, training and other support to area gardeners. (2015 grant recipient)
• Neighbors Building Brightmoor ($5,000): to fund a Public Allies AmeriCorps intern to expand the Community Kitchen, which was opened in 2016 under the leadership of a Mahindra-funded AmeriCorps intern. (2015 grant recipient)
• Northend Christian Community Development Corporation – Oakland Avenue Farm ($10,000): to develop a water catchment and storage prototype, working with University of Michigan architects, engineers and designers.

Four of the 2016 grant recipients, as noted above, also received Mahindra grants in 2015 when a total of $100,000 in cash grants and equipment donations were made through a collaboration between MNATC and Mahindra North America, the company's Houston, Texas-based tractor and farm equipment subsidiary.

"I am gratified to learn of the positive results that were made possible, in whole or in part, through the 2015 Mahindra Urban Agriculture Grant program in Detroit," said Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group. "The city is experiencing a transformation, and urban agriculture projects, like the ones we funded last year, are at the vanguard of grassroots change."

Approximately 550,000 pounds of fresh food was grown and distributed to Detroit residents through the good works of the groups that received Mahindra grants or equipment last year. Additionally, the 2015 grants provided 85,000 seeds and seedlings to nearly 1,400 individual Detroit gardens, approximately 200 new garden beds, training and technical assistance for hundreds of urban farmers and a garden storage shed for use by 60 developmentally disadvantaged teens.

Mahindra North American Technical Center (MNATC)

MNATC, which opened in Troy, Michigan, in 2013, is the company's first U.S.-based technical center and is a key part of Mahindra's neural network of innovation that links automotive facilities in India, Korea and Europe. The Technical Center is a key element in Mahindra's growth plans to develop and market world-class vehicles globally.

The Mahindra Group

The Mahindra Group (www.mahindra.com) focuses on enabling people to rise through solutions that power mobility, drive rural prosperity, enhance urban lifestyles and increase business efficiency.

A USD $17.8 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, Mahindra employs more than 200,000 people in over 100 countries. Mahindra operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation 3 ownership. In addition, Mahindra enjoys a strong presence in the agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defense, energy, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel, commercial vehicles and two wheeler industries.

In 2014, Mahindra was featured on the Forbes Global 2000, a comprehensive listing of the world's largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenue, profit, assets and market value. The Mahindra Group also received the Financial Times' "Boldness in Business" Award in the "Emerging Markets" category in 2013.

Contact:
Rich Ansell
313-268-4530
[email protected] 

SOURCE Mahindra

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