Second Harvest Food Bank has been working hard to contribute to the Central Florida community’s health and wellness. Because food insecurity is one of the leading factors contributing to chronic disease and illness among people who are low income and living in poverty Second Harvest created my position as the Healthy Pantry Network Coordinator through a West Orange Healthcare District grant. The focus of the grant is for our partner agencies within the footprint of the West Orange Health District. However every pantry in our agency network is able and encouraged to contact me about information and guidance to improve the health status of their pantry. Since the beginning of this grant the pantry at St. Andrews Catholic Church has been working closely with me to implement as many health upgrades to their pantry as they can. They’ve been extremely receptive and interested in the nutrition information for their client’s food bags and we’ve been able to communicate about healthier foods for their homeless population. They’ve also had UF/IFAS Extension’s Family and Nutrition Program come out to their food distributions to provide nutrition education to their clients. This coming winter they will take part in a Request For Proposals (RFP) training where they will have the opportunity to apply for more equipment that will expand their pantry’s capacity to distribute a larger quantity of healthier foods.
If you are interested in nutrition resources for your pantry you can find a nutrition resources tab on Second Harvest’s partner website. Also feel free to contact me and use me as a tool to expand your pantry’s growth in health and wellness.
Rachel Stankiewitch