What Did You Do With Your Jenzabar Foundation Grant?

In 2013 the Campus Kitchens Project at Washington & Lee University and the Campus Kitchens Project at University of Georgia jointly won a Student Leadership Award from the Jenzabar Foundation. Let’s see what they have done with their grants:

Campus Kitchens Project at Washington & Lee University:

The funding from the Jenzabar Foundation was used to support nutrition information in Washington & Lee University’s Weekend Backpack Program.  This year the Backpack Program has grown to include over 700 children. They have increased their impact “dent” from 15% to 19% since 2013, now serving around 1,000 clients in their community. They also increased the number of children served from 613 to 700 this year. The Student Leadership Award grant was used for the weekend Backpack Program. On the weekends, children and families who qualify for free school lunches struggle to meet their hunger demands.  To combat this, they sent home bags of non-perishable food items with the students.  Additionally, they began packing monthly nutrition cards along with the food items. These nutrition cards include information about seasonal fruits and vegetables, healthy eating habits, fitness, recipes, and community resources/upcoming events. The Jenzabar Foundation award also went towards the printing costs of these nutrition cards.

Here is a sample of the nutrition card:

Nutrition Card: Nutrition Cards-November

Author: Chloe Doto from Washington and Lee University

Campus Kitchens Project at University of Georgia:

The Jenzabar Foundation grant was awarded to University of Georgia Campus Kitchen Project at a critical time. The Athens Community Council on Aging, their primary client agency, had just been notified of major and immediate budget cuts specifically to their nutrition services. As a result, they were going to have to make the near impossible decision to cut 14 seniors who came to their Center for Active Living each day for a hot meal and valuable socialization. With support from the Jenzabar Foundation grant, the Campus Kitchen at UGA was able to fill the gap by providing enough additional meals for ACCA to maintain full services. The grant was specifically used to purchase supplemental food items throughout the year to ensure the meals were balanced and healthy. The funds also helped summer interns to ensure that the Campus Kitchen at UGA could sustain these efforts year-round.

As a whole, the Campus Kitchen at UGA was able to strengthen and expand operations in 2014. From 2013 to 2014, University of Georgia  increased their meal distribution by approximately 18% from 12,925 meals to a projected 15,200 meals; food recovery by 25% from 32,000 pounds to 40,000 pounds; and volunteer engagement by 14% from 3,519 volunteer hours to a projected 4,000 volunteer hours.

Additionally, they expanded Lunch Buddy, one of their most impactful programs. Lunch Buddy is a program created in collaboration with ACCA that addresses the root causes of senior hunger by fostering intergenerational relationships over a shared meal. Up to 17% of adults aged 50 and over are socially isolated, which creates nutritional risks due to limited access to healthy food and the absence of social relationships during mealtime. Research links older adult’s social behaviors with eating behaviors and shows that, in general, people tend to eat more in the presence of others. To target social isolation, Lunch Buddy pairs a homebound older adult, or “buddy”, with a Campus Kitchen at UGA student to share a weekly lunch-time meal together.

In 2013, there were less than 100 Lunch Buddy visits with just a handful of students participating each semester. In 2014, University of Georgia has had more than 20 student volunteers participate with a projected 275 visits. The impact has been significant: 100% of surveyed seniors participating in the Lunch Buddy program reported feeling less isolated and more connected to the community, and 87% of the seniors said their health has improved and that they eat more of their meal when their buddy is present.

Author: Linda Kurtz, Online Community Engagement Manager for The Campus Kitchens Project

Wow! What great work has been done! Thank you to the Campus Kitchen Project at Washington & Lee University and University of Georgia. We are gratified that your Jenzabar Foundation grant has helped make the world a better place.