FreshStart 2019, the United Fresh Start Foundation’s annual conference, golf tournament and gala dinner bringing the industry together to increase kids’ access to fresh produce, will once again feature a silent and live auction benefitting the foundation and a half-day education program focused on how the fresh produce industry increases children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The event also will include United Fresh’s traditional volunteer leader meetings and the annual Gala Dinner recognizing the recipient of United Fresh’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award. FreshStart 2019 will take place Jan. 15-17 at the La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, CA.

“I’m excited to start the new year with such an important event for the foundation," said Phil Muir, president and chief executive officer of Muir Copper Canyon Farms and chairman of the United Fresh Start Foundation board of trustees. "This annual event brings the industry together to fundamentally change the way the next generation connects with fresh produce. Not only will we showcase the significant impact we’ve had on kids in just the last year, but we also will kick off our yearly fundraising efforts, which this year will enable us to launch new programs and partnerships while continuing to grow our current initiatives.”

Last year’s auction and golf tournament raised over $100,000 to support the United Fresh Start Foundation’s mission of increasing children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables. In 2018 to date, the foundation has provided grants to 20 community-based non-profits who are providing children with fresh produce during the times they are not in school, continued its leadership in the national Salad Bars to Schools initiative through partnerships with produce companies and innovative events like Tour de Fresh, and connected produce companies with more than 60 school buyers and menu planners from the nation’s largest school districts at the foundation’s annual School Foodservice Forum at the United Fresh convention, among other on-going partnerships and activities.

“I can’t think of a more important cause to support, or a nicer place to be than Palm Springs in January,” said Cindy Jewell, vice president of marketing at California Giant Berry Farms and United Fresh chairman of the board. “We invite the industry and our volunteer leaders to join us in supporting a great cause while we kick off a new year, together!”

To register for FreshStart 2019, visit www.unitedfreshstart.org. The event is open to all United Fresh members for $200, with a non-member rate of $400. Participation in the United Fresh Start Foundation Golf Tournament is additional.