It Takes a Hive to Thrive™
Giant Eagle is partnering with local community organizations to support pollinator education and health in our own backyard. Guests can purchase one of our exclusive It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ reusable tote bags to help us support local pollinator sustainability efforts. For each bag sold, we’ll donate $1 to an organization in the area where that bag is purchased:
Donations from the It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ bags will support the following programs:
- Observation Hive: The Garden will purchase an Observation Hive to help with educating visitors and the community on the importance of honeybees and how they create food. This portable hive will allow The Garden education staff to take the hive “on the road” to the Garden’s classrooms or to local community outreach programs. Audiences will be able to view the honeybees at work safely and up close through the viewing area of the Observation Hive.
- Monarch Migration Day: The Garden celebrates autumn with family-friendly activities and programs each Sunday in October. In 2023, Monarch Migration will be the theme of one of the Sundays. Educational materials and take-home crafts will be provided.
- National Pollinator Week Activities: Spanning June 19–25, this year’s National Pollinator Week will include a variety of classes and drop-in activities for families.
- Pollinator Identification Signs: While the Garden places plant identification labels, this new signage will identify the commonly seen pollinators, whether bee, bird or other. These pollinator signs will be placed in the Hillside Pollinator Garden planting areas and provide information that connects the plant with its pollinator partner. The design will incorporate accessibility and inclusion sensitivity.
- Pollinator Adventure Backpacks: The Garden guests will be able to “check out” and use backpacks, sponsored by Giant Eagle, and their contents to explore Hillside Pollinator Garden. Reference books and other materials will be included in the backpack for families to take a deeper look at pollinators. The backpacks will help make the connection between pollination and food creation, one of the many important roles that pollinators fill for humans.
Donations from the It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ bag will help support pollinator education programming and support Franklin Park Conservatory’s Pollinator Palooza.
- Pollinator Education Programming: Education classes on pollination and bees, including a special workshop with Denise Ellsworth (state extension specialist for native bees) and Dr. Olivia Carill.
- Pollinator Palooza: Giant Eagle will be a sponsor of the Franklin Park Conservatory’s “Pollinator Palooza,” a free summer festival dedicated to celebrating and supporting all things pollinators. Open to the public, this event features entertaining demonstrations, live music, food trucks and local organizations dedicated to raising awareness for pollinator health.
Donations from the It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ bag will go towards pollinator education programs and support of the Bee Hive in the Hershey Children's Garden at the Cleveland Botanical Garden campus and the Butterfly Garden at the Holden Arboretum campus.
Donations from the It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ bag will go towards creating vibrant healthy ecosystems to support pollinators and bees right in the heart of our Indianapolis neighborhoods.
- Pocket Parks: Keep Indianapolis Beautiful works with neighborhood groups, through the AES Indiana Project GreenSpace, to transform vacant and underused places into vibrant urban parks. In 2022, they planted nearly 3,000 native plants throughout these pocket parks to create vibrant healthy ecosystems to support pollinators and bees right in the heart of our neighborhoods.
It Takes a Hive to Thrive™: FAQs
The donation from each It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ reusable bag sold goes to a different regional charity based on where the sale occurs as follows: All It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ bag sales from Giant Eagle and Market District locations in Pennsylvania benefit Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. All relevant reusable bag sales in Delaware, Franklin and Washington counties in Ohio benefit Franklin Park Conservatory and sales from all other Ohio Giant Eagle and Market District stores benefit Holden Arboretum. All It Takes a Hive to Thrive™ bag sales in Indiana benefit Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
Each specially marked reusable bag sold counts until supplies are exhausted.
The Buzz About Bees & Food Production
As an organization committed to delivering fresh, high quality and sustainable foods to our Guests, Giant Eagle recognizes the role that pollinators play in food production. With almost 75% of the world’s food crop production dependent upon pollinators, it’s extremely important that businesses and communities alike take steps to protect the animals driving pollination.
This is especially true of the native and honey bee populations. Food supply is threatened every year by pesticide use, leading to the decline of our pollinators.
Giant Eagle recognizes that a variety of chemicals negatively impact pollinators, with the notable inclusion of the neonicotinoid and organophosphate families of pesticides. We're extremely proud that all our live plant suppliers are neonicotinoid - and glyphosate-free and that we no longer sell home gardening products that contain these toxic chemicals. Additionally, our company utilizes several community partnerships and unique product offerings to promote healthy pollination throughout our communities.
Our Promise to Pollinators
Giant Eagle is one of two major US food retailers to make a timebound commitment to eliminate the most harmful pesticides in our floral and fresh produce products. We're actively working with our fresh produce suppliers to adopt integrated pest management (IPM) by 2025. IPM is an ecological farming framework that reduces pesticide use and risk by 95%.
#1 Bee-Friendly Retailer
We're excited to share that we have once again been recognized by Friends of the Earth, an environmentally focused non-profit, as the top bee-friendly US grocery retailer for our efforts to protect pollinators from toxic pesticides. Our rating on the Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard surpasses even the largest US grocery chains.
