Costa Mesa, CA. —  Mother's Market & Kitchen, a natural and organic foods retailer, has donated $4,000 toBeyond Pesticides, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides.

Funds were collected from a portion of the sale of grocery bags at all eight Mother’s Market stores from Jan. 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018.

Beyond Pesticidesplans to use the donated funds to support the upcoming conferenceOrganic Neighborhoods: For healthy children, families, and ecology, scheduled for April 13-14, co-convened with Non Toxic Irvine and the University of California Irvine Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. The conference will highlight the policy adopted by theCity of Irvineand surrounding cities to move the management of parks and playing fields to organic practices.

“Through their policy and research work, Beyond Pesticides is doing great work to protect the healthy air, water, land and food in our world,” said Deborah Rubino, chief integration officer for Mother’s Market & Kitchen, which has seven Orange County locations and one in Signal Hill, with plans to expand into two more. “We are proud to support their efforts, which align with Mother’s mission to provide the cleanest and highest quality natural and organic foods to the communities that we serve.”

The founders of Beyond Pesticides, which was established in 1981 in Washington, D.C., believe that without the existence of an organized national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become  pressured by the chemical industry and become increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Mother’s Market and Kitchen and honored to have their support,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. “We are particularly excited to showcase at the upcoming conference the efforts of the City of Irvine and its leadership in protecting children and families from toxic pesticide use with the adoption of organic management strategies.”