Meinders Retail Florist Education Grant Fund

The Meinders Retail Florist Education Grant Fund, established in September 2021 by Herman and LaDonna Meinders, aims to support the floral industry by providing grants for reduced or free registration fees to industry events. With an initial contribution exceeding $500,000, the fund promotes educational initiatives that attract young talent and address industry challenges. Managed by the AFE Education Committee, it is expected to distribute over $10,000 in its first year, ensuring sustainable support for vital educational programs.

About the American Floral Endowment
The American Floral Endowment (AFE) is the trusted source and catalyst for floriculture advancement through funding of innovative research, scholarships, internships, and educational grants that best serve the dynamic needs and demographics of all industry sectors.
Building A Stronger Floriculture Industry
AFE strongly believes in funding educational programs to promote and strengthen the floriculture industry. The majority of the programs funded are wide-reaching and focus on attracting young people to the industry or are educational endeavors to identify and solve industry needs and/or challenges.
The Meinders Retail Florist Education Grant Fund (previously Herman and LaDonna Meinders Fund) was established in September 2021 by Herman and LaDonna Meinders, longtime industry members and AFE supporters, with a new contribution of $224,000 added to the previous unrestricted contributions reaching a total of over $500,000.
This educational grant will specifically support reduced or free registration fees to floral industry events for retail florists by providing grants or scholarships to nonprofit floral industry organizations for this purpose. The fund is fully sustainable and is expected to grow year over year, allowing for increased contributions of important industry educational programs. In its first year, it will provide over $10,000 in grant funding.
The annual distribution from this named fund will be administered by the AFE Education Committee as part of the AFE Educational Grants application process in July of each year. The AFE Education Committee will review grant applications received and discuss annual retail floral educational events or opportunities to determine the distribution levels to fulfill the intent of this retail florist educational grant.

Eligibility

This fund will provide grants or scholarships to nonprofit floral industry organizations.Grant applications focused on retail floral education will qualify for a grant under this new fund.