To all our shoppers, team members, suppliers and online donors, you did it!
For this year’s Annual Prosperity Campaign, you exceeded the goal of $4.1 million and raised over $5.5 million to alleviate poverty in communities around the globe where Whole Foods Market® sources products.
Because of you, Whole Planet Foundation® will be able to offer microcredit loans to 180,000 more impoverished women entrepreneurs These loans are small – usually $300 or less in the developing world – and don’t require a contract or collateral. They help the very poor have a chance to lift themselves and their families out of poverty by giving them the capital they need to create or expand their businesses.
The typical businesses created by these inspiring, hard-working entrepreneurs include food carts, flower shops, handcrafted items, neighborhood kiosks, and small-scale agricultural endeavors, like raising cows or chickens, and one-acre farming. 100% of the $5.5 million goes to fund microcredit loans in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States, where your donation is loaned and repaid and reloaned, again and again. In fact, these microcredit loans have a 95% repayment rate! Whole Planet Foundation’s worldwide microfinance partners opens in a new tab make this possible.
Partners like MicroLoan Foundation which provides the rural poor with access to financial services and business training and mentoring in Malawi, Africa where Whole Foods Market sources Whole Trade® vegan sugar.
One of MicroLoan Foundation’s clients is Veronica, who has established a solar energy business in a rural area that has little to no access to reliable electricity. She has set up cell phone charging stations and rents fully charged LED lamps each evening. She has pre-orders for her services through the next month and is establishing a business relationship with a local school to provide them with services. There are many more inspiring women entrepreneurs like Veronica that are given the help them need through microcredit.
You can read their stories on Whole Planet Foundation’s website opens in a new tab.
Currently, Whole Planet Foundation has over $26 million in funds committed to microlending projects in 51 countries around the world, where Whole Foods Market sources products. 91% of the 199,659 clients served are women with families, which means that over a million people are helped out of poverty.
With your continued support, we can reach even more impoverished families and provide them with the resources to change their own lives through hard work and entrepreneurship. Go online to donate anytime opens in a new tab.
Thank you for your generosity and your continued support!
