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A Bumper Crop of Help for Poor Children by Staff Children International, December 2008

Prescott, WA - For Broetje Orchards, this year's crop harvested hope for impoverished children sponsored through Children International.

Broetje donated $114,844 to buy 5,000 mosquito nets for children and their families in danger of contracting malaria in Zambia. The donation will also pay for connection fees for clean drinking water for 90 families in a poor slum in Quezon City, Philippines, and provide plumbing for families lacking it.

The donation is also making available education scholarships, textbooks, tutoring, boarding fees, and transportation for 60 students in India who might otherwise drop out of school. And 530 teens around the world will receive training on living healthy lifestyles in an effort to prevent early pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Ralph Broetje, the founder of Broetje Orchards said, "I am happy that we are able to make a real difference in the lives of children who really need help. We take basic things like clean drinking water for granted. It is our duty to give back to those truly in need."

"Broetje Orchards is truly changing the lives of young people around the world. Through their generosity, children will live healthier more fulfilled lives," said Children International's president, Jim Cook.

About Broetje Orchards

Broetje Orchards is one of the largest privately owned orchards in the world with more than 5,000 acres in Washington state: about 4,300 contiguous acres near Prescott (bluefish notes: half of this orchard is irrigated by pumping water up 26 feet from behind Ice Harbor Reservoir.), about 625 in Benton City and another 550 devoted to certified organic fruit production in Wallula.

With the opening of their new packing facility, the company has more than 1.1 million square feet under roof. They pack an average of about 20,000 boxes of apples a day, a total of more than 5 million boxes a year.