Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease)
April 22, 2009 - Ally Maize is determined to motivate fellow high school students around the U.S. to be eco-friendly. The 17-year old founder of Green Youth Movement (GYM), along with electric car manufacturer Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), is breaking ground, literally, on the first “sustainable garden” at her own school, Archer School for Girls. This planting event marks the inauguration of the “Sustainable Garden Project,” which aims to bring student-run gardens to junior high and high schools across the U.S., and will benefit Westside Food Bank and the Daybreak Women’s Shelter of Santa Monica as well.
All environmental aspects of the project are being taken into consideration, from the produce planted to the electric GEM cars used for transportation, to students directly participating in a range of educational activities, and each student that contributes to the sustainable garden will take home a “seed-in-a-cup” to start their own garden at home. The event is set to take place at 11:25 a.m. on Wednesday, April 22nd on school grounds at 11725 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049.
“I’m really excited about this first sustainable garden at my school,” said Maize. “Volunteers who know how to do this have donated their time, and everyone’s been so great about working as a team to make this happen. The whole school is psyched about promoting sustainability and learning what a sustainable garden is all about, which is really cool." said Maize.
Initially inspired by her first car – an economical, zero emissions GEM e4 - Maize was determined to start an organization that promoted a way of life that her peers could relate to – hence Green Youth Movement (GYM) was born. GYM is based on an initiative to educate students on sustainable living and environmental conservation. In an effort to incorporate these programs into school curriculums, Maize and GYM are making it their priority to promote eco-consciousness and social responsibility in young people.
The Archer School for Girls is the first campus in Los Angeles to participate in GYM’s sustainable garden initiative. Operating on the mission to provide girls with an optimal learning environment balanced with extra-curricular offerings, Archer is a model for incorporating sustainability into academia. GYM and the girls of Archer decided to donate its garden crops to other social causes in need, such as the Westside Food Bank and the Daybreak Women’s Shelter in Santa Monica, as part of its commitment to social responsibility, which is at the heart of sustainability.
“We at Global Electric Motorcars are very proud of Ally’s work on behalf of her community,” says GEM President and COO Rick Kasper. “Community is a large part of our mission too, so we’re happy to support Ally’s launch of the sustainable garden project.
We also believe it’s important to develop eco-friendly habits as a way of life, especially in our young people.” Community outreach has always been an integral part of GEM’s corporate mission. In addition to providing the nation with emission-free vehicles, GEM also actively participates in a number of eco-conscious events nationwide.
Ally and GEM hope that other junior high and high schools around the country follow her example and plant their own sustainable gardens as well.
About Green Youth Movement (GYM):
The Green Youth Movement (GYM) is a non-profit organization devoted to educating students on leading a green lifestyle and petitions to implement environmental conservation information into school curriculum across the nation.
GYM was inspired by 17-year-old Ally Maize, who, while learning about global warming in school, took a special interest in environment conservation. Devoted to making a difference in her life as well as others, Ally began travelling around the Los Angeles area in her GEM, educating students on eco-friendly methods of saving the environment.
In 2007, the inception of GYM came to life. GYM now hosts events around Los Angeles and promotes environment-conscious life choices for teens, like using recycled paper, refilling a metal bottle for water instead of buying plastic bottled water, and promoting organic foods and coffee.
About Global Electric Motorcars (GEM):
A 11+-year old Chrysler company, GEM has nearly 40,000 neighborhood electric vehicles on the road worldwide used by local, state and national government agencies, and on resorts, master planned communities, and university, medical and corporate campuses, as well as by sports teams, taxi-shuttle services, and individuals consumers GEM vehicles are eligible for incentives and tax credits from clean-air districts and other governmental agencies.
The six passenger and utility models of GEM vehicles are legal on most streets posted 35 mph and below and have many of the same safety features of regular cars, but are much more economical in prices and fuel consumption. GEM vehicles qualify for incentives for alternative fuel and low-emission vehicles.
GEM is a winner of the prestigious 2007 Blue Sky Merit Award from WestStart-CALSTART. To date, GEM cars have been driven over 300 million emission-free miles, and have saved over 15 million gallons of gas. They have also prevented over 180 tons of ozone-producing pollutants from reaching the air.
For more information, to price your own GEM car or locate a local dealer, visit www.gemcar.com or call Joan Michelson at 702.806.3690 (cell).
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