Newswise — GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- In keeping with the yuletide spirit of giving, faculty, staff and interns with the UF/IFAS Extension Family Nutrition Program are helping others this month, including adopting a family and collecting and distributing hygiene items.
Here are a few examples of how FNP personnel are assisting others this holiday season:
• UF/IFAS Extension Leon County Director Kendra Zamojski said her office is adopting a family for Christmas. Faculty and staff will purchase food and gifts for a family in need. Contact: [email protected]; work: 850-606-5201.
• On Christmas Eve morning, intern Brianna Posadas will work with the Santa Paula Rotary Club, distributing Christmas presents and food to deserving families in Santa Paula, California.Contact: Brianna Posadas, M.S. candidate and a research assistant on the FNP Evaluation Team.[email protected]; cell: 951-387-0022.
• FNP Program Assistant JoLynn Peoples and her family volunteer every year at an event called “A Night of Blessing,” a Christmas party for homeless families in Santa Rosa County. This year, the event is on Dec. 18 at a local school. They provide a Christmas dinner, gifts, coats and blankets for the children. It is hosted by a local church, but was started by a small group of people. Contact: [email protected]; 850-485-0039.
• Ashley Avant, an FNP program assistant for UF/IFAS Extension Osceola County, said she will collect family-sized personal hygiene items to give to the Community Hope Center in Kissimmee, Florida. “In Osceola County, we have a large number of our students and parents living in hotels throughout the county. The Community Hope Center provides these families with resources that they need,” Avant said. Avant and company will collect supplies at the Osceola County Fair office in Kissimmee through Dec 18. Contact: [email protected]; cell: 407-456-4620.
FNP faculty and staff typically teach participants who qualify for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, how to eat healthy on a budget. As a major part of the education, participants are encouraged to increase their consumption of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fat-free or low-fat dairy foods.
FNP is the SNAP-Ed (the nutrition education component of SNAP) in Florida.
Sources: Multiple, see above
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