Val’s Column

Courage Under Fire My parents died when I was very young and I was blessed to have grandparents who loved me and my four siblings, aged 4-11, enough to take us in. My grandmother at the time was in her 60’s and 6 months before my mother died (her daughter), her mother died and then 7 months after we moved in her husband passed away. So, in a period of 19 months, my grandmother lost three significant people. I believe that a multiple tragedy like that would send many of us in a downward spiral of depression but not my “Lottie Mama”. “I don’t have time to be depressed, I have five little grandchildren here that need me” she would say to people when they would call crying and with words of sympathy. She would tell them as long as we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, food in the house and our God, life would be alright for us. It was just that basic for her – food, clothing and shelter. Anything more than that she said was surplus from God. I grew up with that value and to this day, I remain most thankful for those basic things. But in our part of South Jersey, so many children and seniors can’t say that every day as many of them are not sure from where their next meal will come. I don’t think they want a lot - just enough as my grandmother says, “ for life to be alright” .

HeALTHY LIVINg.It’s a nice thought, but is it realistic in an age of growing sedentary habits and fast food?

Yes, said The Food Bank of South Jersey – and used the Healthy Living Initiative (HLI) to prove its point. Beginning with cooking classes in 2010, the Healthy Living Initiative has now reached over 6,000 adults, children and seniors in South Jersey. More importantly, HLI is raising awareness about ways to prepare affordable and healthy meals and spotlighting the Food Bank of South Jersey as a thought leader in the area of health and nutrition.

These efforts made a difference. In 2013, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) reported that 19 states – New Jersey among them - have shown a decrease in their numbers of obese adults and children. Obesity rates in New Jersey are down 1% - “a significant reduction when you consider our Healthy Living Initiative is less than 3 years old,” explains Val Traore, CEO of the Food Bank of South Jersey. “Great progress,” says Ashleigh May, who was the lead author of the CDC study.

A publication of the Food Bank of South Jersey

Leading the way, 19 states – including New Jersey – show Americans how to gain health – and lose weight.‘Budget wise and Body friendly’ the Food Bank of South Jersey’s Healthy Living Initiative shows smart habits are key to long term health.

(continued on page 5)

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The Food Bank of South Jersey’s clients responded eagerly. Children and teenagers began returning to their homes asking for vegetables. Or pointing out low calorie ways to cook their favorite foods. Parents, surprised by this interest on the part of their children, reported their own cooking habits were changing. “I realized that I didn’t have to cook chicken nuggets all the time just to satisfy the kids,” one mother said. “Now it was the kids telling me to cook vegetables, to drink more water, to get more carrots in the house. It was an eye opener, I can tell you.”

But while teaching adults, teens and children with hands on, interactive cooking classes, the Healthy Living Initiative wanted more than just anecdotal praise from parents. To do this they called on the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers-Camden, asking the research center to study the sustainability of the Food Bank’s HLI

program. Over a three month period, 16 focus groups were evaluated on their understanding of nutrition concepts, the basic of healthy cooking and healthy shopping. “Stunning,” says Traore of the results. Each group showed significant improvement in their grasp of nutrition, diet and health.

The challenge now? “Money,” Traore says simply. “The waiting list is long and the funding is short. This year alone we already have 925 people who have signed up for our program. They are looking for the knowledge to get themselves, their families and their children back on track – with all the wonderful things that can happen when good nutrition is a given. We will overcome every obstacle and look under every stone, but we will get that money somehow.”

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Need a gift idea for the holidays?Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but our goal is to make sure families in South Jersey have access to healthy food and nutrition education all year round. If you’re looking for a unique way to celebrate a special occasion, we have the perfect solution – a tribute gift! A great idea for:

• Birthdays• Weddings• Anniversaries• Graduations• Mother’s Day/Father’s Day• Bar/Bat Mitzvahs• Holidays…and more!

For as little as $10, you can make a gift in honor or in memory of someone special and support our mission. Visit us at www.foodbanksj.org/donate and select the “Tribute” option. The gift recipient will receive a customized FBSJ certificate and newsletter (…we will not mention the gift amount or send unsolicited mail).

We Did It!

New Jersey – show Americans how to gain health – and lose weight. (continued from cover)

TeeNSAshley Reyes is like every other teenager, but with one difference – if you put snack foods in front of her, she’s more likely to tell you about their nutritional deficiencies than eat them.

Ashley is one of the Food Bank of South Jersey’s “peer educators.” Having taken an environmental course at her high school, she promptly “fell in love with gardening and it floored me how much a person could grow in their own back yard.” Her new interest grew to encompass nutrition and then, “a whole new world opened” she recalls. “One of the first things we made in our cooking class was vegetable lasagna. I never knew there was such a thing! Whoever heard of putting squash in lasagna? But it was fantastic!”

Excited by her own growing interest in what a difference good nutrition

could make in body weight, energy, concentration at school and so much more, Ashley brought the lessons home to her family…and then to her friends at school. Attending weekly HLI classes as part of the Food Bank of South Jersey’s partnership with Urban Promise, Ashley spends at least 2 hours or more a week helping to teach Cooking Matters classes, often bringing along friends so they can learn as well. “With good nutrition we can help prevent so many things, like obesity and diabetes.” she says, “I always tell my friends that you have to eat clean to look clean.” Now a junior in high school, Ashley believes that promoting good nutrition will always be a big part of her life. “I may not end up doing something with it professionally, but I’m going to keep on volunteering and teaching and preaching. I know I can make a difference.”

WoNDeR CHeFSWhat happens when you take the average 5 year old and hand them a stalk of celery?

For kindergarteners all over the area, the result is a “celery boat” – a stalk of celery filled with cheese and raisins, eagerly gobbled up by the children. Just ask Angel, of Abbott grade school in Camden.

Angel isn’t a foodie, she’s a Wonder Chef. A graduate of the Food Bank’s Wonder Chefs program celery boats are just one of her new favorite things. “If we reach children at a

young enough age where they are still impressionable and beginning to learn about their likes and dislikes, we can help direct them toward long term healthy habits,” explains Chef Raquel Moreno, senior manager of the Food Bank’s Healthy Living Initiative. Moreno hopes to establish the classes in an additional 4 schools next year.

Scan QR code or visitfoodbanksj.org/donate

Donate to help educate 3,500 people in South Jersey in the next three years.

Do it for South Jersey!To read the full report from the Senator Walter Rand Institute, go to www.foodbanksj.org/walterrand.

“Today Wonder Chefs, tomorrow the world,” jokes Food Bank CEO Val Traore. “When we see 5 year olds asking for vegetables, we know we’re doing something right.”

SeNIoRS“Getting older ain’t for sissies,” the actress Bette Davis once said.

She’s right. Everyone ages and everyone slows down. But aging doesn’t have to mean disease and pain. Many seniors can control their ailments and stay active and healthy well into their golden years.

The Camden Coalition for Healthcare Providers (CCHP) partnered with the Food Bank of South Jersey to introduce groups of senior citizens with diabetes to foods – and ways to cook them - that could make a difference.

“In the past, these seniors just heard about foods that were good for them. In our new kitchen, they had a hands-on experience in seeing, chopping and cooking these foods. It was their first chance to put into action the lessons they had learned. The results were amazing.” Chef Moreno and her class prepared soup with three kinds of beans and fresh vegetables; a sweet potato salad with roasted

red pepper; and experimented with herbs and seasonings that put flavor back into food without the salt and sugar. “They were so enthusiastic and so open to learning, that they immediately wanted to sign up for another class.” said Moreno. She pauses as she prepares her menu for the next class. “Long life is a good thing,” she explains “as long as you have the health to go with it.”

100% of HLI participants would recommend this class to others

For additional information about tribute or membership gifts, please contact our Donor Concierge Service at (856) 662-4884 ext. 138.

Pictured below are participants from our Living Well with Diabetes class, putting the final touches on their lunch of Sautéed Salmon, Roasted Sweet Potato Salad, and Mixed Beans and Greens Soup.

Pictured here are participants from our Healthy Living class at Urban Promise, including Ashley Reyes, second from left.

Look who’s Loving Healthy Living!The Food Bank of South Jersey showcases the results of our Healthy Living Initiative, proving that good eating habits can be taught at any age.

A former teacher finds many ways to help nourish school age childrenSome Food Bank of South Jersey friends make contributions to us in so many ways – and some steadily for months and years – that the Food Bank of South Jersey had to create a special club to honor them! The Food Finder Club recognizes those people who have made a contribution to FBSJ for at least three consecutive years.

Which brings us to Joan Wechter.

A former Gloucester County teacher, Joan watched hungry children struggle in the classroom, unable to concentrate on their lessons. “The concept of being able to assure a child’s next meal is such a basic one,” she says. “It affects their performance in school and can impact their health and so many other aspects of their life.”

Not content with a monthly donation, Joan carved out time to volunteer, using her talents and skills throughout FBSJ. Within just a few months, Joan helped FBSJ re-organize its filing system for grants, assisted with Hunger Study surveys, edited newsletter articles, and participated as an audience member for a test run of our new cooking competition, FBSJ Hunger Games (see foodbanksj.org/hungergames for more information). Her efforts and energy are an example to the students she taught and to the FBSJ staff that have come to rely on her formidable talents. Thank you, Joan!

If you would like to be featured in the next issue of the Donor Spotlight or would like to learn more about volunteer opportunities at FBSJ, please contact our Donor Concierge service at (856) 662-4884 ext. 138 or email us at: msantiago@foodbanksj.org.

Keep the Dream Alive

For so many of your neighbors, good health is just a dream.

Urban neighborhoods lack access to healthy foods, emphasizing corner stores brimming with snacks and foods high in salt, sugar and fat. Children fall asleep at school, lacking the good start that protein and fruit can give them. Senior citizens find that diabetes and hypertension can run amuck, destroying the independence that their golden years should bring.

So let’s end it right now.

The Food Bank of South Jersey began the Healthy Living Initiative to teach, educate and counsel those in need about the impact of food and diet on good health. Through our classes and outreach we’ve brought cooking classes at every level to children, teens, families and senior citizens throughout South Jersey.

To do this we used a secret weapon.

You.You were there every step of the way. Your help made the classes possible.

Keep the dream alive. Keep hope – and health – growing in South Jersey

Donate. Give. Volunteer. Support.

Scan QR code or visitfoodbanksj.org/donate

Do it for South Jersey!

www.foodbanksj.org/donateVenue: Food Bank of South Jersey 1501 John Tipton Boulevard Pennsauken, NJ 08110 6 -11pm Black Tie Optional

Join us for an unforgettable evening of chance, music and food. All for an unforgettable cause!

For more information: visit foodbanksj.org/vivasj

Valet Parking Open Bar Array of restaurants

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our MissionThe Food Bank of South Jersey exists to provide an immediate solution to the urgent problem of hunger by providing food to needy people, teaching them to eat nutritiously, and helping them to find sustainable ways to improve their lives.

Do it for South Jersey!

1501 John Tipton Boulevard Pennsauken, NJ 08110www.foodbanksj.org (856) 662-4884

With reduced resources and cutbacks, the Twilight Harvest program was in jeopardy. “We knew we were going to need help to continue it” explains Falynn Milligan, Food Bank of South Jersey Manager of Direct Services.

That’s where Cruz stepped in.

A senior citizen himself and once a recipient of the bounty from Twilight Harvest, Cruz knew how important the deliveries were to senior citizens, many of them living on a fixed income. “It made a difference in my life,” says Cruz. “I went from 10% to 100% with the help I got from this program, so I wanted to give back to others.”

Cruz immediately called the Food Bank of South Jersey to volunteer his time. The rest, says Milligan, is history. “He lets the residents at Kennedy Towers

(a seniors only building) know the distribution schedule, sets up tables for us to use for food, makes sure both grocery carts and FBSJ canvas bags are available for everyone and even hand delivers groceries to those too ill or disabled to come to the lobby to get their food.” says Milligan. “It means so much to us – and to the Kennedy House residents – to have one of their own step up to the plate like this.”

Twilight Harvest is a unique collaboration between FBSJ staff and volunteers, senior centers, community organizations, nutrition education specialists and funding from the business community and government sector. The program is designed to help low-income seniors

who often struggle to make ends meet, torn between paying for food, medication and housing. Seniors must be 60 yrs or older and provide proof of income and residency. Participants receive a 10-day meal box intended to supplement their monthly groceries.

once a recipient, now a volunteer: Pedro Cruz, senior citizen, reaches out to make sure Twilight Harvest distributions continue.

West Deptford teen takes love, lemons and a little ingenuity to help others. Dana Bell knew a thing or two about hunger. Her grandparents, like so many other senior citizens, lived on a fixed income which often was not enough to meet their needs. The ‘golden years’ once thought to be a time of rest and relaxation, were often a struggle to make decisions between paying for food or medicine, food or electricity, food or rent. Like many others, they sought the help of the mobile food pantry in Lindenwold which provided them with meats, fresh fruits, vegetables and other staples. It was a lesson in need – and in the generosity of others meeting that need – and it stuck with the teen.

“I wanted to do something to give

back,” she explains. “The Food Bank of South Jersey helped my grandparents and so many others. So I kept asking myself, how can I raise money to help them continue their work?” Dana’s answer: a lemonade stand in her home town. Her efforts paid off and the stand yielded more than $100 which she promptly donated to the Food Bank of South Jersey.

Not surprisingly, the active teen is thinking about her next fundraising project. “The lemonade stand was my

first try at raising money,” she said. “It won’t be my last.” Reflecting on the generosity which helped her much loved grandparents survive, she adds, “If I can help the Food Bank of South Jersey make sure families have one less thing to worry about, that makes it all worthwhile.”

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