Los Angeles Chargers Donate $10,000 to Garden Grove Unified Schools

Los Angeles Chargers player Josh Harris speaks to children about the importance of healthy eating at Ethel M Evans Elementary School in Garden Grove, Calif., on Nov. 15, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—In an effort to promote healthy diets and physical activity, the Los Angeles Chargers has teamed up with the Dairy Council of California—a state agency aimed at providing nutrition education to children—to award $10,000 to the Garden Grove Unified School District on Nov. 15.

During an assembly at Ethel M. Evans Elementary School, star player Josh Harris and Dairy Council representative Alyssa McClelland handed a giant check to district staff in front of students.

“We’re really excited to present this check to the community so that you all can have access to some healthy options ... continue to grow and become big and strong,” Harris said during the assembly.

Los Angeles Chargers player Josh Harris speaks to children about the importance of healthy eating at Ethel M. Evans Elementary School in Garden Grove, Calif., on Nov. 15, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Garden Grove Unified School District officials receive a $10,000 check from the Los Angeles Chargers and Dairy Council of California at Ethel M. Evans Elementary School in Garden Grove, Calif., on Nov. 15, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The funds will be used to provide healthy food and play equipment, among other resources, to children in the district to promote “healthy eating and habits,” according to district staff.

McClelland said local dairy councils across the nation team up with nearby National Football League (NFL) teams to present these donations to neighboring schools.

For the past nine years, the donation—known as the “Hometown Grant Check”—is given three times per year in California.

Children sit in on a school assembly for a program that educates students about dairy products at Ethel M. Evans Elementary School in Garden Grove, Calif., on Nov. 15, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The Dairy Council provides free nutrition education to children and adults through its website and free Mobile Dairy Classroom, where farm experts bring a live cow to schools and explain dairy production and the “importance” of including all five major food groups into daily diets.

After meeting the council’s cow named Cinnamon, each student was given their choice of either plain or chocolate milk in individual cartons from Rock View Family Farms, a Downey-based company dating back to 1927.

Children watch Cinnamon the cow at Ethel M. Evans Elementary School in Garden Grove, Calif., on Nov. 15, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Established over a century ago in San Francisco, the Dairy Council was created by prominent dairy industry leaders as a way to “protect the public’s good image of dairy in light of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak” at the time, according to the agency’s website.