The Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia will receive a $1.2 million grant from Giant for the museum’s yet-to-be-named market exhibit. For decades, the museum has featured an exhibit that provided kids with an opportunity to shop in a (pretend) grocery store and learn about food. (I remember it well, as it was my kids favorite part of the museum!)
Gecko Group is working with Giant and the museum to design, develop, construct, and rename the market exhibit. It will aim to promote healthy eating and the significance of food in family and cultural celebrations, and will address agriculture, food insecurity, and recycling, according to Please Touch President and Chief Executive Patricia D. Wellenbach.
Construction for the new market is scheduled to begin in late 2020 with an expected opening in fall 2021.
Giant’s gift kicks off a $5 million campaign called “Creating the Future of Play,” which is designed to help the museum – which has laid off most of its staff – through its reopening in early 2021.