More people live in poverty and face hunger in East Hillsborough than anywhere else in the county, says Mary Heysek, President and CEO of United Food Bank and Services of Plant City.
“That’s why the need is so great in this area,’’ she says.
Heysek’s organization regularly supplies food to people from 10 communities in the area, she says. But it has gone beyond that with the creation of a six-week course that teaches parents who receive food the importance of creating nutritious meals, especially for children.
Called F.E.E.D., for Feeding, Educating, Empowerment for Development, the program teaches parents the connection between good nutrition and early learning, Heysek says. About 90 percent of its funding comes from the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County. Other sponsors are Lakeland Regional Health: Physician Group, Plant City; Bruton Memorial Library; Florida Literacy Coalition; and Publix.
Heysek says a recent U.S. Census Bureau report for Hillsborough County showed 48 percent of kindergartners were not ready to learn to read, and almost 60 percent of third graders were not passing their reading exams.
“So this is an act to try to improve those scores,’’ she says. “Nothing’s possible without food.’’
The program has been operating for a year and has served 264 clients so far, says F.E.E.D. Program Manager Deborah Foos.
“If we can help fight food insecurity, we can help them with education, we can help them with many, many resources,’’ she says. “Parents, if they have tools in their toolbox, then the children will learn better when they can eat better. They get more sleep. It helps them in so many different ways.’’
Parents in the program meet once a week for six weeks in classes conducted by Foos. The classes last about an hour and 15 minutes and include a lesson followed by a question-and-answer period, she says.
“Every week, I choose two nutritional recipes and we give them copies of those and try to give them food in each of the bags or boxes that correlate to those recipes,’’ Food says. “We’ve taken some of those recipes and actually made them in class.”
She covers a different topic each week, and invites guest speakers in to talk about that week’s focus area. One week, they talk about medicines and how to measure them correctly.
“Another week we will talk about stress management,” Foos says. “When you don’t have enough money and you have financial hardships, the stress levels go up. So we’re trying to find ways to teach them coping mechanisms to decrease the stress in their households. So when kids see their parents less stressed, then the kids are going to be less stressed.”’
Zhawnte, who declined to give her last name, takes care of her grandmother and aunt, as well as her son. She says she’s getting a lot out of the course and praises Foos.
“I have one 7-year-old,” she says. “He’s a very picky eater, so she’s actually teaching me how to get him to eat healthy.”
She finds the classes valuable in so many ways.
“You learn things about getting your vaccinations, agencies you can call if you need your medical bills or your prescriptions paid for, and you can’t pay for them,” she says. “And they also give away books. We get books every week.’’
That’s really helped her second-grader.
“He has over a hundred books on the shelf,” she says.
Zhawnte also likes getting together with other parents who attend the classes.
“Without it, I don’t think I’d really have a social life,’’ she says.
United Food Bank spreads the word about F.E.E.D. through social media, newspaper ads, and word of mouth. Social workers at schools also refer families to the program.
The food bank interviews new clients and can refer them to organizations that provide additional services, Heysek says.
“We find people who are perfect candidates for this class, because, after doing an intake on them, we find out what their family living situation is,’’ she says.
United Food Bank Chief Operating Officer Angelica Lombrana says the nonprofit organization strives to make people comfortable and overcome any self-consciousness they may feel about visiting a food bank.
“Our organization has been around since 1991, so we’re in a unique and very fortunate situation,” she says. “We’ve been able to build rapport and trust with the community for over 30 years. When people come to our class, they’ve already been introduced to the food bank, so there’s a level of trust that’s associated with our name, where many people come and they’re comfortable. Of course, Deborah still works actively to build rapport and trust. That’s a big part of our organization, focusing on that. So it’s a priority for us.’’
For more information, go to United Food Bank of Plant City and Children's Board of Hillsborough County