All-New KKRF Website, Fundraising Campaign Unveiled

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the all-new Kee Kitayama Research Foundation (KKRF) website, along with a host of new opportunities for supporters.

To get a look, visit KKRF.org where you’ll find refreshed information about the organization, details about KKRF research and grants, info on the KKRF Hall of Fame, an ongoing series of blog posts and the opportunity to donate to support the organization’s critical work.

You’ll also have the chance to subscribe to receive news and updates from KKRF.

The new website makes it easy to stay current on all things KKRF, and to use online tools to apply for a grant or make a donation.

Why donate?

Scientific research is a key driver of the California floriculture industry, contributing to its current status as the leading U.S. producer and certain to shape its future. But scientific study requires money, and KKRF is an important source of funding for California-specific floriculture research.

To bolster its vital mission, we’re asking members of the state’s floriculture industry to invest in their own future by contributing to the foundation’s research endowment.

According to federal and state reports, California’s $1.08 billion floriculture crop continued to lead the nation in 2015, the most recent year for which the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Summary is available. California and Florida, the next largest producer, accounted for 49 percent of the total value of the top 14 producing states that year, the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center said.

Where the California industry is going, research will help determine.

Mike Mellano heads up the Kee Kitayama Research Foundation whose goal is to fund research that will specifically benefit the California floriculture industry. Photo by Carrie McCluskey Photography.

“We know that the world is continuing to change. In order for us to compete and thrive into the future, it’s going to require us to invest in new technologies and new research in order to better our operations,” said Mike A. Mellano, chair of the Kee Kitayama Research Foundation Board of Trustees. “As far as the Kee Kitayama Research Foundation, the goal and objective is to fund research that will specifically benefit the California industry — not just cut flowers, but the California floriculture industry, whether it’s cut flowers or potted plants.”

KKRF focuses on funding projects with the greatest potential to benefit California’s ornamental industry, targeting research into better, cheaper or sustainable pest and disease control, crop protection materials, and water quality, conservation and use efficiency.

“We’re not looking to fund international research,” Mellano said. “We’re looking to solve the challenges and issues that are facing growers and farmers in California.”

You can help! So stop by the new KKRF.org, read about its work and then lend your support!


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