Contact: Jennipher Walters

jennipher.w@mtti.net

816-523-9140 x109

MTTI-WellSpring Partners with Whole Foods to Give Back

MTTI-WellSpring and the Whole Foods on Metcalf partner up to giveback to those in need in the Kansas City and Lawrence community.

Kansas City, MO & Lawrence, KS (December 15, 2009) – What happens when a natural health and wellness school and an organic grocery store come together to adopt families in need for the holidays? They not only make a difference in the lives of Kansas City and Lawrence, KS, residents, but they also empower their communities to be healthier and to get involved.

MTTI-WellSpring Kansas City massage therapy student Jena Hudson first approached the school with the idea to adopt a few families in early November. After receiving full support from the school’s staff, faculty and student body, Hudson contacted KUDL about its Adopt-a-Family program, which invites KUDL listeners to make the holidays brighter for thousands of Kansas City's needy families through donations to the Salvation Army. Soon after, the MTTI-WellSpring Lawrence campus heard of the event, and adopted its own family via the Salvation Army.

“We absolutely thought that giving back was a fabulous idea of Jena’s,” says Andrea Farquharson, Student Affairs Director at MTTI-WellSpring. “We do a lot of community service events here at the school to promote wellness in the community, and this was a natural fit.”

After agreeing to support these families for the holidays in Kansas City and Lawrence, fellow massage therapy student Jeffrey Davison, who works as a Customer Service Team Leader at the Whole Foods on 91^st and Metcalf in Overland Park, KS, had the idea to not only provide gifts for the families this holiday but to also provide a healthy holiday dinner. He approached the Whole Foods on Metcalf, and they graciously agreed to donate a turkey dinner to all families.

“Our team members are part of the local community and they are passionate about supporting the local causes that are important to our shoppers and neighbors,” says Jennifer Matascik, Whole Foods on Metcalf Store Marketing Specialist. “Team members are constantly volunteering their time and expertise to an assortment of local non-profits.”

In fact, each year Whole Foods stores donate food to area food banks and shelters, along with community giving days (otherwise known as “5% Days”) where five percent of that day’s net sales are donated to a local nonprofit or educational organization.

MTTI-WellSpring is also strongly committed to community service, regularly offering chair massage services to nonprofit events and health promotion activities. The school regularly donates gift certificates to its student massage clinic and recently invited Kansas City police officers in for free weekly massages as a thank you for the hard work they do.

About MTTI-WellSpring 

Natural health and wellness have been the total focus of MTTI-WellSpring since the school's founding in1988. While massage therapy was the original focus of the school, today we have a state of the art Fitness Training & Wellness program that prepares graduates to be certified as a Personal Trainer, and to compete for openings at top health clubs and fitness centers across the country. MTTI-WellSpring's total focus on training students for massage therapy, fitness and wellness careers sets us apart from other all-purpose technical schools and provides a very different learning environment. For more about MTTI-WellSpring, please call 816-523-9140 for information about our Kansas City campus at 9140 Ward Parkway, Suite 100, or 785-856-3903 for information regarding our Lawrence campus, at 947 New Hampshire. Additional information can be found on our Web site at www.MTTI.net.

About Whole Foods Market®
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (www.wholefoodsmarket.com), a leader in the natural and organic foods industry and America’s first national certified organic grocer,  was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” in 2008 by Health magazine. The Whole Foods Market motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”™ captures the company’s mission to find success in customer satisfaction and wellness, employee excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to its 53,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 12 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2008, the company had sales of $8 billion and currently has more than 275 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market, Fresh & Wild^TM, and Harry’s Farmers Market® are trademarks owned by Whole Foods Market IP, LP.  Wild Oats® and Capers CommunityMarket^TM are trademarks owned by Wild Marks, Inc.