Seed Your Future’s latest campaign (Plants to the Rescue) aims to raise awareness of young people to the power of plants. Photo courtesy of Seed Your Future
Seed Your Future, an initiative that promotes horticulture and inspires young people to pursue careers working with plants, recently launched its newest Bloom! Campaign — Plants to the Rescue. The campaign’s goal is to excite young people about the power of plants and their unique ability to help solve some of the most pressing problems in youth’s communities. It is in direct response to feedback from youth who want to help solve some of the problems impacting the health of the planet.
“Youth have told us that they want to help solve some of the most difficult problems in our world today,” says Susan E. Yoder, Executive Director of Seed Your Future. “They hear about world-hunger, climate change, flooding, air pollution, noise pollution, food deserts, and more, and they’re anxious to do something about it — but they don’t know how or even what would make a difference. BLOOM! helps them to identify the root of each challenge and opens their eyes to how plants and the people who work with them can make a positive difference.”
The new “Plants to the Rescue! Plant Mash-Up” contest and sweepstakes engages students in imagining their own plant hybrid with unique qualities to benefit a specific challenge in their own community. They will select an issue, then describe a new plant-based solution and illustrate their idea. A Grand Prize and a Runner Up Prize are awarded to both the student and the educator/youth program leader/parent of the winning submissions. In addition, a sweepstakes component, where a student is randomly selected from all entries, gives every submission the chance to be a winner.
New Bloom! Poster Promotes Careers in Horticulture
New this year at Seed Your Future is a colorful classroom poster introducing youth to the more than 100 careers working with plants. In addition to the educator website, the main Seed Your Future website serves as a digital hub of resources on careers in horticulture, including links to cool videos, real-life stories, and engaging content to inspire youth and their families.