AUSTIN, Texas (June 27, 2016) – Whole Foods Market customers, team members, supplier sponsors and online donors raised a combined $3.26 million to alleviate global poverty during the company’s 2016 Prosperity Campaign for Whole Planet Foundation this spring.
Every dollar raised will go to support the foundation’s work to fund microcredit for poverty relief in communities across the U.S., Canada and the U.K., where Whole Foods Market operates stores, as well as in 66 other countries where the company sources products. Microloans are small loans – usually less than $300 – with no contract or collateral, offered to the world’s poorest for the opportunity to create or expand a home-based business and generate income for their families.
“Thanks to shopper generosity, Whole Planet Foundation will be able to give an additional 94,100 people the chance to lift themselves out of poverty through microcredit and change their own lives,” said Philip Sansone, president and executive director for Whole Planet Foundation.
Whole Foods Market covers 100 percent of Whole Planet Foundation’s operating expenses to ensure that all donations benefit microcredit clients. Since 2006, the foundation has disbursed more than $53 million in microloans through microfinance partners worldwide. Those dollars have funded more than 1.4 million microloans, giving 7.8 million people across the globe a chance for a better life.
To learn more about Whole Planet Foundation and its commitment to global poverty alleviation, visit wholeplanetfoundation.org.
