We are honored to celebrate our long-term partnership with The Cargill Foundation and the tremendous community impact of our collaboration spanning 20 years. As we continue to celebrate our Forward for All Campaign donors, we are continually amazed at the generous support from our donor community helping us push what’s possible for all. Read more about our recent partnership with The Cargill Foundation in childhood nutrition along with the history of our efforts below.

Community-Based Partnership

The YMCA of the North’s history with The Cargill Foundation is rooted in listening to our communities’ needs. With 20 years of giving totaling $6.2M, Cargill has never wavered in their support of the North Community YMCA. This steadfast support has made a difference in the areas of community childcare, childhood nutrition, the Healthy Kids Initiative, and Beacons programs. 

In 2018, The Cargill Foundation gifted $575,000 for the Cargill Teaching Kitchen and $300,000 for an innovative Cargill Greenhouse at Harold Mezile North Community Y. These gifts provide learning and joy to youth around nutrition and healthy living, and allow young people to get their hands dirty as they learn about growing, cooking, and eating healthy foods. Cargill’s social investments have driven outcomes with 91% of youth at the Mezile Y demonstrating improved healthy eating practices and 77% showing improved behaviors around healthy nutrition.

“One of the biggest highlights from the Cargill Greenhouse is our new Around the World curriculum where we use the food grown to learn about different cultures. The kids get so much exposure to new foods and culture without leaving their city. When you're exposed to different cultures, your mind broadens, you have a way of looking at things different. Thank you Cargill for making this possible and helping our kids learn and grow in new ways every day.”
-Lyntrell Dixon, Y Health & Wellness Coach and Teen Youth Center