We couldn’t be more excited to head west next week to be the beneficiary of a very special party taking place at the historic East West Studios in Hollywood – our inaugural pre-GRAMMY benefit! At the event, we’re partnering with our Whole Foods Market West Hollywood store and presenting sponsor Sambazon to honor cultural icons and life-long activists in promoting sustainable practices, as well as hear sets from several of today’s leading musical acts. Planet LA Music and their partners secured Ozomatli (one of my favorites since the late 90s), Meiko (have you heard her voice?) and drummer Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction (only one of the BEST bands of all time) to perform at the benefit! Whole Planet Foundation funds poverty alleviation through microcredit in communities where Whole Foods Market sources products, and the opportunity to be a part of such a high-profile event is really exciting for us, as the funds we raise on February 6 will help us empower many women entrepreneurs to change their own lives.
These past few weeks, our team and Whole Foods Market stores companywide have been gearing up for the 2013 Prosperity Campaign that will take place February 20 through March 31. During that time, we aim to raise $5.7 million to fund microlending projects around the globe, and event proceeds from this pre-GRAMMY benefit will support our 
efforts to alleviate poverty through microcredit in 54 countries around the world and right here in the United States. Through our US partner Grameen America, we are funding a project in Los Angeles, and this event will be just another way we can celebrate that as well as kick off our campaign with some amazing energy and momentum.
Caring about our communities and our environment is one of Whole Foods Market’s Core Values, and at the event, we will celebrate a few of the many folks who practice sustainability in their everyday lives. Whole Planet Foundation will honor the recipient of the Whole Planet Foundation Vanguard award, Daryl Hannah, who has been a cultural icon and life-long activist in promoting sustainable practices, as well as recipients of the Whole Planet Foundation Trailblazer awards, Jack Johnson, Jessica Alba and Jason Mraz who have been proactive leaders in our changing global environments.
Presenting sponsor Sambazon has sustainability at the core if their mission and have been long-time supporters of Whole Planet Foundation through the annual calendar program and the scanback program, where a portion of Sambazon’s sales support our microlending projects. They also help us facilitate the Brazil Whole Foods Market Team Member Volunteer program where this year, they hosted nearly 30 Team Members to participate in a community service project along the Amazon. Co-founder and chief executive officer Ryan Black recently told us that “as entrepreneurs operating under the Triple Bottom Line philosophy, measuring our success economically, socially and environmentally has always been the foundation for everything we do. We’ve delivered on this mission by partnering with over 10,000 independent family farmers in the Brazilian Amazon, and are stoked to align with Whole Planet Foundation and its purpose to improve the economic climate and living conditions for those in developing nations.”
The event is also sponsored by Whole Foods Market West Hollywood, Chivas Regal and Gibson Pro Audio brands Cerwin Vega and Stanton, and is produced by Planet LA Music and Clamorhouse. The event will feature innovative cross-promotional efforts between the Whole Planet Foundation, Whole Foods Market, artists, brand partners and technology platforms including Talenthouse, Thrillcall and Viddy apps. To make this event even cooler, brand partners including Sambazon, popchips, KIND Healthy Snacks and others are launching cross-promotional campaigns to raise awareness for the benefit and their continuing support of Whole Planet Foundation.
Here’s the part where you get to learn how you can join us at this special event!
Our partners at popchips are hosting a special promotion in Whole Foods Market stores companywide. If you purchase a bag of popchips, they’ll donate 5¢ per bag to Whole Planet Foundation, plus match the donations of 33 stores nationwide! Through our partnership 
over the last two years, popchips has donated thousands of dollars to fund microloans to empower microentrepreneurs to change their own lives. To celebrate our partnership over the years, popchips is going to give away a few tickets to our exclusive pre-GRAMMY event. To find out how you can enter for a chance to win, “like” popchips on facebook, and follow @popchipsla on twitter.
We want to give special thanks to Planet LA Music and Clamorhouse for their tremendous support and generosity in creating this event and securing talent and sponsors. You guys are amazing! Thank you Ryan and the rest of the Sambazon team for sponsoring this event and for your partnership over the years to help us fund poverty alleviation projects around the world. We really value our partnership and look forward to all the great things to come. We also want to thank all of our event partners for their help in making this pre-GRAMMY benefit a reality: Hubert’s Lemonade, Tito’s Vodka, popchips, KIND Healthy Snacks, VOSS Water, Ciao Bella Gelato Co., Stone Brewing Company, Uber Cars and Wild Soul. Other supporters include Essentia, Hand in Hand Soap, Hint, Justin’s, Late July Organic, PACT, Pretzel Crisps, Reason, The Republic of Tea, Steaz, Tasty Brand, VOS, World Centric, Zevia and others.
We’ll be tweeting from LA, so keep up with us at the event with the tag @wpfgrammyparty. After the event, we’ll be sharing photos and stories through our social channels and our email newsletter. We hope to see some of you there, and we look forward to celebrating the success and impact of the benefit with you!