Announced as part of National Hospital Week, Cary Medical Center will soon be working with the area’s faith-based community to launch a program designed to teach middle school aged children how to cook healthy foods on a budget. The project, which will begin later this month, has been funded by a $50,000 grant from Walmart. Staff for the program have now been hired and the first two programs have been scheduled in Caribou and Presque Isle. Kris Doody, RN, MSB, FACHE, and chief executive officer at Cary Medical Center said that the grant is an extension of the hospital’s vision to create a healthier community.
“We are so very grateful to Walmart for providing this generous grant. Just to give you some background, since 2004 we’ve been blessed to receive more than $4.2 million in grant funding for a variety of programs and today, along with the help of Walmart, we’re adding this new program.” said Doody who announced the grant to a press conference held May 13. “There are so many needs in our communities but healthy nutrition is really so important and we are pleased to be part of this exciting initiative. We are also very impressed with the response we have received from the faith based community and we are anxious to move the project forward.”
The idea for the “Cary Kids Cook” program came out of a concern that many families in Aroostook County are struggling with the high cost of healthy foods. By learning how to purchase these foods and prepare them it will help to stretch the family’s food budget. Lisa Prescott, a medical laboratory technologist at Cary, and part-time grant writer, developed the overall concept for the program and said that teaching middle school aged children how to prepare healthy foods will have a long term impact.
“We felt that this age group, 11–14 was ideal for teaching some basic ideas about what makes a healthy food choice. Helping them learn how to prepare simple but tasty meals will provide them with skills that may last a lifetime,” said Prescott. “According to the USDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 16.7 million children under the age of 18 don’t have or are unable to consistently access the nutritious foods necessary for them to have a healthy life, while Maine itself has the ninth highest food insecurity rate in the nation, and the highest in New England. We are going to teach all the basics, including food safety, food storage, portion sizes, and actually have the children cook a meal that they can take home with them for the weekend for a family of four.”
The program is open to any child age 11–14 accompanied by a parent or guardian. All cooking supplies, food and storage containers will be provided. The program will run for 8 weeks on Saturday mornings from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each class will conclude with the preparation of a healthy meal for a family of four that will go home with the participants.
“Hunger is kind of a hidden problem in this area. When you look around Aroostook County and see all the fields you might assume we wouldn’t have a problem feeding people. However, even though we’re an agricultural area, there are a lot of people who still don’t have ready access to affordable and easily obtainable healthy foods,” said Prescott.
The project will hold classes at churches in all six of Cary Medical Center’s Healthy You communities; Caribou, Presque Isle, Van Buren, Fort Fairfield, Limestone and Washburn. Bill Flagg, who is providing administrative oversight for the program said that the faith-based community has embraced the project and will help sustain the program once grant funds are exhausted.
“A number of churches have responded to the project,” said Flagg. “These churches have full kitchens, kitchen tools and utensils, they are a natural place to host the cooking classes. The churches who participate in the program have also agreed to continue the program using church volunteers after we have used all of our grant funding.”
Anna Blackstone of Presque Isle will coordinate the “Cary Kids Cook” program with the help of Jan Jackson of New Sweden. Blackstone said that providing guidance and instruction to young children will help them make healthier decisions as they grow.
“We are going to make this program fun,” said Blackstone who will instruct the first “Cary Kids Cook” series in Presque Isle. “It is important when working with this age group to keep things moving, get them involved right away and let them learn that there are many delicious healthy foods out there and that fast foods are not the only choices. We will help them learn that nutritious, whole foods will help them to stay healthy and strong as they grow.”
Cary is now recruiting six families for the Presque Isle cooking classes and six families for the Caribou series. Families will be enrolled on a first come first served basis. FMI contact the office of community relations at Cary Medical Center 498-1112.
