Apr 9, 2019
Proven Winners Pledges Support to College Plant Initiative

For the second year, Proven Winners is supporting the Collegiate Plant Initiative (CPI), a student-run organization founded at the University of Florida with the goal of connecting college students with plants and opportunities in the horticulture industry.

Proven Winners is providing 6,000 pots of its Annual of the Year Lemon Coral Sedum to give away at CPI’s Plant Drops on six university campuses this year.

“Proven Winners is thrilled to be working with the young, entrepreneurial minded folks at CPI who are so excited to be sharing their love of plants and gardening with their peers across the nation at selected campuses. Lemon Coral is such a wonderful selection as it will work in just about any situation—on a windowsill, in a planter or in the landscape,” says Marshall Dirks, director of marketing for Proven Winners.

CPI’s initiatives target college students who have an interest in plants but don’t have much experience growing or shopping for them. “By showing these students how easy it can be to select and take care of plants, we are encouraging the purchase of plants and related goods,” according to the Collegiate Plant Initiative’s website.

Plant Drops take place in the spring and fall at participating universities. One thousand plants are distributed with record setting speed to high energy crowds of students gathered in the center of their college campuses. The fastest giveaway so far took just 2 ½ minutes. Basic care instructions are provided with the plants to help the students grow them successfully.

A primary focus of CPI which Proven Winners fully supports is connecting students from a wide variety of majors into the plant industry, understanding that people with all kinds of skills are needed to make the supply chain function. By giving free plants to students studying accounting, business, law, environmental studies, chemistry, art and more, they are exposing them to the world of plants.

Proven Winners understands the vital importance of continually bringing new people into the industry. In addition to supporting CPI, the company also distributes $25,000 in scholarships to students in four-year universities as well as community colleges and vocational schools annually.

CPI student leaders will distribute Lemon Coral Sedum at these six university Plant Drops in 2019: