QVC’s QGarden, a volunteer-managed, 100% organic vegetable garden that produces fresh produce for Chester County food pantries, has been honored by the Philadelphia Business Journal with one of its first-ever Brotherly Love Sisterly Affection awards.
The QGarden was launched in 2013 through a partnership with the Chester County Food Bank and Triskeles Foundation’s Food for All program. The garden consists of 29 raised beds at QVC’s two West Chester locations – Studio Park and Founders Park – and is tended by approximately 75 QVC team member-volunteers. To date, the QVC team has harvested 7,832 pounds of produce, 70% of which was donated directly to local food pantries (the remaining 30% was offered to volunteers). In 2015 alone, 3,398 lbs. were harvested and 2,445 lbs. were donated.
The Brotherly Love Sisterly Affection awards program honors initiatives between for-profit and nonprofit organizations that help Philadelphia live up to its civic nickname. The Philadelphia Business Journal presented 25 awards for 2016, recognizing the most impactful partnerships in the Greater Philadelphia area that include monetary donations, social impact and community involvement.
“We are thrilled with the response from team members since we first started the QGarden in 2013,” said Kate Sheehan, community affairs manager, QVC. “Our employees, ranging from avid to novice gardeners, are extremely dedicated to every part of the process…from planting seeds all the way to transporting the harvested produce to over a dozen area food pantries.”
The QGarden has helped QVC deepen its support of the local community while also providing a unique employee engagement. The QGarden has appeared on QVC’s broadcast, which reaches more than 100 million homes across the United States. QVC features a range of food/cooking programs, and as an extension of QGarden, QVC’s culinary team and on-air guests also donate other un-opened food products (often used on-air) to local food pantries on an ongoing basis.
“We strive to support the communities where we live and work through strategic philanthropy cause-programming, workplace giving, and volunteerism,” Sheehan said. “At QVC, we believe in doing well by doing good.”