We have been invited by the Salvation Army Kroc Center in City Heights to host a single-agency Food Smarts Training Program for their staff.  They will train staff members from the Family Resource Center, the Gym, the Church, and Education Programs to run workshops for kids, adults, seniors, and families.  We are so happy to help the Salvation Army acheive their organization's health and wellness objectives!

We have also been selected by the San Diego County of Health and Human Services to run a Food Smarts Training Program for County nutrition ed staff, graduate interns, and staff from partner CBOs to deliver nutrition education programs to SNAP-Ed eligible populations.  This is a great opportunity to align our curriculum with Federal and State standards, and reach vulnerable populations through a strong public-private partnership model.

Last, recently trained FSTP-graduates (see previous post) will be showing off their Food Smarts by presenting mini-nutrition workshops to attendees of the Healthy Eats: The Future of Nutrition Banking on March 27.  This conference is sponsored by Feeding America San Diego, SuperFood Drive, and Kaiser Permanente.

Thanks also to Shahla Abtahi-Sepah and Ruthi Solari, both of San Diego County Health and Human Services (Ruthi is also the founder of SuperFood Drive) for their wonderful work training our participants in the basics of health, nutrition, and working with underserved populations.

Our thanks and congratulations to:

Maxine Smith, City Heights Community Development Corporation

John Lowther, Salvation Army KROC Center

Caroline Raedeker, Feeding America San Diego

Allen Rosenbaum, Feeding America San Diego

Dollis Peters, South Bay SDA

Kristin Kverland, International Rescue Committee, SD

Lisa Vandevort, City Heights Wellness Center

Yajaira Preciando, YWCA San Diego

Oneida Ramirez, Home Start

Mary Prince, Bayside Community Center

Stephanie Paine, San Diego Rescue Mission

We are looking forward to supporting them as they run their workshops and learning more about the amazing work they are doing in their community.

Adrienne Markworth, Leah's Pantry

Ruthi Solari, SuperFood Drive

Shahla Abtahi-Sepah, San Diego HHSA

Emily Dore, Leah's Pantry

We will be spending time over the holidays getting ready for the early January event.  Can't wait to connect with the San Diego orgs who will attend!

With support from Feeding America San Diego, we will be recruiting agencies located in the City Heights neighborhood.  Other agencies in the San Diego area are eligible, although we are specifically targeting City Heights agencies with this training.  This will hopefully be the first of a series of San Diego FSTP events.

To sign up, please fill out the form here.

We are SO grateful for the finanicial support of the following three organizations, all of whom are participating in our Fall Fundraising Drive:

• The Real Food Co. - they are running a campaign at BOTH of their San Francisco locations beginning November 1, 2011 and ending January 2, 2012.  Donate your bag credit to Leah's Pantry or make a donation in any amount.  They can be found at Polk and Broadway and at Greenwich and Fillmore.
• zipongo.com - this daily deal site is expanding to independent grocers throughout the Bay Area (think Andronicos, Raley's, Mollie Stones, Draeger's and Real Food Co.)  They feature healthy foods you buy anyway and give a portion of your sales to awesome nonprofits.  They are featuring us on 10/30, 11/1, 11/7, and 11/18.
• Paragon Real Estate Community Fund - Paragon real estate broker's contribute to this fund and help determine where to donate the funds.  We are a grateful recipient for the quarter.  Thanks to Christine Irsfeld, realtor extraordinaire, for our nomination.

FSTP graduates were trained to run our Food Smarts Workshops at their sites.  They are now ready to faciliate health, cooking, and nutrition workshops to their clients.  We are proud to see our curriculum expand, and grateful for the feedback and suggestions of our trainers to help us create the most effective, cultural competent, and flexible program in the state.

Alexandra Brewster, Rubicon Programs

Jarekye Covarrubius , Rubicon Programs

Lauren Johnson, Americorp Volunteer - Tom Waddell Health Clinic & Hamilton Family Center

Nancy Hairgrove, SafeQuest Solano

Norma Quinonez, Santa Inez Apartments

Kelly Johnson, Community Focus

Vella Black-Roberts, Alameda DPH, MPCAH, IPOP

Shanelle Flowers, Alameda DPH, IPOP

Carmelia Calmo Ramirez, Alameda DPH, MADRE

Rebecca Alvarado, Alameda DPH, MADRE

Maureen Byrne, Tom Waddell Health Center (SFDPH)

Felicia Bradley, Chinatown CDC

Jazmine Wilson, Walden House SHOP Program

Gail Axelrod, Baker Place

Drea Riquelme, Brighter Beginnings

Karla Zambrano-Armijos, Holy Family Day Home

Leah's pantry brought not only knowledge about food to my clients, but also created bonds with the attendees and myself.  These classes are very informative and easily adaptable to all lifestyles.  I target SROs and homeless in North Beach.  My clients depend weekly on the food we provide at the food pantry, so we adapted each class to use only what they would receive for free that week.  We also did a lot of sharing of cooking tips, best places to buy food and supplies, how to use coupons and how to make cooking plans for the week.  I know some of these ideas are simple, but to someone overwhelmed with all other aspects of life they need to have guidance to start them back on the right track.

This program is awesome because it not only teaches a more healthy lifestyle, it shows that the clients do have control over some parts of their lives.  By the end of the course I noticed not only a more confident outlook over food choices, but a boost in self esteem knowing they made the changes on their own.  Thank you Leah's pantry for helping my clients (and me) have the confidence and knowledge we need to live a healthy life.


Mandy Boatright
Food Pantry Coordinator