Author: Joy Rose
Planning Unit: Wolfe County CES
Major Program: Accessing Nutritious Foods (general)
Outcome: Initial Outcome
The Wolfe County Lunchroom announced the dates for their summer lunch program, and asked for community partners who would be interested in serving the lunches. The lunch service was interested in providing the lunches to more locations in our county, as there is not a form of public transportation in our area and parents are challenged to find ways to bring children to the one school location that prepares the lunches,
The Wolfe County SNAP Assistant asked to to a part of the summer lunch program and deliver the lunches to a part of the county that was not only quite a distance from the summer lunch preparation school, but also an area where there were residents not often served by extension .
The program began in June with the SNAP assistant bringing the lunches to the Helechawa Park. Up to 50 lunches were served weekly to the children coming to the park. Additionally, recipe samples prepared from the adult curriculum, the recipe for that dish and nutrition lessons, were provided to the parents while they waited for their children. Upon completing their school lunches, children were provided lessons and material to assemble a healthy snack, such as "Yogurt Parfaits". Weather allowing, the opportunity to meet with other children, was an incentive for the children to play together, which also gave them physical activity.
The experience provided nutrition information and services to the local residents. The lunches were helpful as parents must adapt their food budgets to accommodate the extra summer meals for their children, when they are accustomed to children receiving lunch and breakfast at school for most of the year. Many of the parents expressed their appreciation. A mother told the assistant " Thank you so much, this has been so useful to our family." The experience was very valuable to the SNAP assistant in that new clients were accessed.
Limited income senior citizens come to the Wolfe County Extension Office each month to pick up food ... Read More
New clients, ones that had not been served by the local extension office, were needed by the most re... Read More
Home grown vegetables is one of the the many things to look forward during the summer months. In Eas... Read More
Over the last 4 years, Wolfe County 4-H has partnered with the two local Family Resource Centers to ... Read More