Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Pop-Up Food Pantry Provides Food to 75+ Families

 

 

 

 

Post written by CHC Member Suzanne Williams

Suzanne serves at Erie Family Health as a Health Educator





Healthy Kids Market at Henson Elementary
Every other Tuesday, a “pop-up” food pantry takes place at Henson Elementary School, an Erie Family Health Center site, serving over 75 Henson student families. This pantry, the Healthy Kids Market, is a collaboration between the Greater Chicago Food Depository and Chicago Public Schools, designed to provide nutritious foods to students and families. As a Chicago Health Corps member serving with Erie, I help implement and facilitate this market. I set-up and restock food, help clients choose the foods that they will use at home, and also lead cooking demonstrations utilizing the food that is provided that day.  

These food demonstrations help clients to think of new and creative ways to utilize the foods that are available to them. The first time I served at Healthy Kids Market, I showed clients how to make orange juice from fresh oranges. By offering and demonstrating the use of fresh fruits and vegetables, we promote the consumption of fresh, nutritious foods to our clients. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, we also offer a variety of shelf-stable foods, such as cereal, rice, pasta, and oatmeal.

I was excited by how grateful and appreciative the clients were to have access to the food pantry. Clients also really appreciated the food demonstrations and taste tests. They discussed how they used the food items from the pantry to supplement their SNAP benefits, and how these items were essential to providing nutritious food to their families. I loved the opportunity to help out with such an awesome program, and I look forward to being a part of future Healthy Kids Markets.

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