Wegman’s donation will upgrade the Children’s Museum grocery stores

Our children will get to pretend shop in an upgraded pretend grocery store and hopefully learn about non-pretend eating habits.

February 12, 2016; 9:36 AM • by Richard Hayes

From the press release:

The Children’s Museum of Richmond (CMoR) is delighted to announce an early Valentine from Wegmans: a gift of $150,000, made up of cash and in-kind donations, that will support CMoR’s 35th anniversary and will allow the museum to renovate its current grocery store exhibits in all three Richmond area locations (CMoR Central, CMoR Short Pump, and CMoR Chesterfield). The new exhibits will emulate the actual Wegmans stores that will open later this year in Midlothian and Short Pump.

Each new ”Wegmans” will feature a child-sized grocery shopping experience complete with play foods, mini grocery carts, check-out counters, and café tables. Construction of the exhibits is set to begin on April 1, 2016 with a grand opening celebration set for April 30, 2016.

“CMoR’s exhibits are designed to create an environment where children can recognize and learn from what is familiar and allow them to make new connections between their own experiences, the people and places that surround them, and the world beyond their community,” said Shannon Venable, the museum’s President and CEO. “The opportunity to partner with such a strong, community-minded organization such as Wegmans and offer the kind of real-world experience for which children learn best, is a true gift for the museum.”

This generous gift is just one way Wegmans is connecting to and supporting its new community.

President Colleen Wegman pointed to the company’s mission of “helping customers live healthier, better lives, through food” as the reason why it wanted to support this project. “We are so proud to partner with the Children’s Museum of Richmond in a way that will help kids to have fun learning about food, especially fruits and vegetables.”

The Wegmans exhibit, along with the museum’s other learning exhibits, are intended for children 8 and under and are designed to promote social, cognitive and physical development through hands-on learning experiences. Studies confirm that children reach important developmental milestones through play. When children play, especially when they engage in pretend play, they learn to obey social rules, cooperate with others, and improve creative problem solving skills. In addition, they learn how to communicate feelings and ideas with their peers, which helps to increase vocabulary and literacy-related learning.

The picture above is from the Wegman’s Super Kids Market at the Museum of Play.