PS 443 Students Offer a Heart-Healthy Approach to Fundraising

Family School PS 443 Valentine’s Day healthy fundraiser successfully raised $56 and, more importantly, had 60 students and several teachers make healthy food choices that day. When Cara Plott, a Food Corps member working at the school, first proposed the healthy fundraiser idea to the student council leaders this past January, the students were very enthusiastic and supportive. Four students on the student council organized and promoted the event with the help of Kerryann Torres, the School Counselor and with assistance from Cara.

For some people, the word “fundraiser” may be synonymous with a cornucopia of sugary, unhealthy foods, but it doesn’t have to be this way! The key to a successful fundraiser is to sell a product that people really want to buy. As the students thought about what healthy items they wanted to provide at the fundraiser, they sought the advice of a teacher, Isabel Gonzalez who brought in fruits instead of candy as a reward for her class one day which was enthusiastically received by her students.

The students decided to present the healthy products in a colorful and engaging way, and packaged the fruits in heart-strewn bags with clever Valentine’s Day puns, such as “You are the Raisin I’m smiling.” Also, the Family School/PS 443 created colorful posters promoting the healthy fundraiser and the teachers overwhelmingly supported the idea. The student council members were thrilled that they made so much money by selling healthy snacks, and plan to replicate this activity at a future fundraiser.

"The event was truly a great experience,” said Kerryann Torres. “The healthy heart fundraiser really helped our kids see that we do not always have to give unhealthy snacks as treats or gifts for occasions such as Valentine's Day. The students were really excited to gift fruits such as apples and oranges. I was especially surprised at the number of children who wanted to buy craisins and raisins! There is so much more than what you see in the corner store and I am glad the healthy heart fundraiser was able to expose our kids to healthy snacks."

Healthy fundraisers, such as this one, will help the Family School/PS 443 fully implement its wellness policy, which does not permit the consumption of unhealthy snacks during the school day. By surrounding students with healthy choices during lunch, snack time, and at special events, students receive a consistent message that healthy foods are an all-around good thing, which encourages them to make more healthful choices in the future.

Healthy Beverage Zone Launches in the Bronx

On Tuesday, April 18th Bronx Health REACH/The Institute for Family Health, and Union Community Health Center officially launched the Healthy Beverage Zone initiative, a borough-wide movement promoting healthy beverage consumption among individuals who work and/or live in the Bronx. The event, held at Hostos Community College, a partner in the initiative, included Bronx Health REACH's Kelly Moltzen, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, and Dr. Vanessa Salcedo from Union Community Health Center. The speakers encouraged Bronx residents to take the pledge to make their workplace, school, place of worship and home a healthy beverage zone free of sugar sweetened drinks.

The Institute for Family Health's Mount Hope, Stevenson and Walton health centers will soon become Healthy Beverage zones. The Bronx, selected as one of 50 finalists in the Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge, has received a $10,000 community award to support the Bronx Healthy Beverage Zone. At the end of the Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge, the programs that show measurable change may be eligible for prize awards of up to $500,000.

You can read more about the Healthy Beverage Zone by visiting the website. 

Bronx Health REACH Wins Two Awards at The Institute’s Annual Research & Innovation Symposium

Bronx Health REACH won first place in two categories at the Institute for Family Health's Sixth Annual Research Innovation Symposium held in April. The poster, “South Bronx Churches Leading the Effort to Increase Access to Fruits and Vegetables” won first place in the Innovative Projects category, and “Disparities in Physical Education and Activity in NYC Schools: A District-Wide Assessment of South Bronx Elementary Schools” took first place in the Research category.

“South Bronx Churches Leading the Effort to Increase Access to Fruits and Vegetables” highlights how 12 South Bronx churches, members of the Bronx Health REACH Coalition, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables by distributing more than 1,000 Health Bucks (paper vouchers, each worth $2, used to purchase fruits and vegetables at farmers markets), and conducted more than 15 farmers' market tours with congregants and local residents.

“Disparities in Physical Education and Activity in NYC Schools: A District-Wide Assessment of South Bronx Elementary Schools” was an assessment of physical activity spaces and physical education instruction in New York City’s South Bronx District 9 elementary schools. Findings from 24 schools surveyed show limited student access to PA/PE. As a result of the assessment, Bronx Health REACH will collaborate with the New York City Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene and Education to improve PA/PE in schools in this District.

Photos from the event can be found here
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REACH Grantees Tell Senator Gillibrand’s Staff about Obamacare’s Other Benefits

On Friday, March 17th the Bronx Health REACH Coalition members from Walker Memorial Baptist Church, Church of God of Prophecy, and Christ the King Catholic Church, and representatives from the two other New York REACH grantees, Bronx Community Health Network and New York University School of Medicine REACH FAR project met and spoke with staff members from Senator Kristen Gillibrand's office to showcase the work REACH grantees are doing in several NYC communities. We felt it important to let the Senator know about the community transformation effect of REACH and that support for it comes out of the Prevention Fund in the ACA.

While the staff of the three REACH grantees spoke well of our respective work, it was the testimonials of the community residents present that illustrated the changes happening in the community. Sandra Jenkins, representing Church of God of Prophecy, shared the experience that at past church events soda would always be one of the first things consumed. But over the past year she has noticed that it’s now water that’s consumed first, leaving the soda virtually untouched. Flora Goldston, representing Walker Memorial Baptist Church, shared that there are now many parishioners at her church who are exercising more, visiting farmers markets, having their blood pressure checked. Bronx Health REACH is grateful to Senator Gillibrand’s staff for spending almost 2 hours with the group, learning of the work being done and its impact on the lives of community residents. We hope that with this information the senator will become a huge champion of REACH in the US Senate.

Bronx Health REACH Appears at NYU Community Health Forum and Just Food Conference

The Just Food Conference, a two day event featuring interactive workshops, policy discussions, and opportunities to advocate for equitable food policy, was held at Teachers College, Columbia University on Sunday, March 12th. Emma Rodgers from Bronx Health REACH appeared with Ramon Murphy, President of the Bodega Association and a Bronx Health REACH partner in the Healthy Bodega Program. The panel, Bronx Bodegas: Healthy Retail in the Bronx, also featured Montefiore Medical Center, BronxWorks and Urban Health Plan, each of whom is doing their own Healthy Bodega Programs.

The New York University College of Global Public Health held a Community Health Forum on Friday, March 10th and Bronx Health REACH's Charmaine Ruddock spoke on the panel, Promoting Inter-sectoral Partnerships. Other panelists included, Adrienne Abbate from the Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness; Sandra Lobo from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition; and Tamara Greenfield from Building Healthy Communities, the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Partnerships. Charmaine focused her remarks on the importance of aligning ones organization’s interests with those of ones partners and collaborators for successful inter-sectoral partnerships. To illustrate her point she cited Bronx Health REACH’s Healthy Bodega program which, in its current iteration, recognizes that the success of the program is contingent on bodega owners experience that selling healthy food is as good for their bottom line as it is for the health of their customers. In addition to the Healthy Bodega Initiative, Charmaine also shared with the audience a similar alignment of interests with the restaurant owners in Bronx Health REACH’s Healthy Restaurant Initiative.