Healthy Food for Families

Fresh produce from the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

Every Friday I go to the food bank and get hundreds of pounds of fruits and vegetables to give out to the families. This past Friday I got over 600 pounds of produce. I picked up 150 boxes of strawberries (1 per family), 200 pounds of potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and celery. In the past I have also gotten sweet potatoes, carrots, parsley, green onions, apples, oranges, asian pears, and more. Although I do this every Friday, the parents still ask me how much I am charging for the produce. The families are relentlessly shocked and grateful for the copious amounts of fruits and vegetables I provide.

This is by far one of the most rewarding things I have a chance to do. Giving healthy food for the families to put on the dinner table, and knowing that my students aren’t going to go hungry tonight- that’s all the thanks I need.

by Melissa Collins, VIP Fellow at Kawana Elementary School

AmeriCorps Makes a Difference for the Egg Hunt for Tots!

Kimberly Copperberg, Site Coordinator at Meadow View Elementary

The City of Santa Rosa’s “Egg Hunt for Tots” is an annual event at Howarth Park for the past 25 years. CalSERVES sent AmeriCorps members to help support the event, both the day of and to help with preparations for the big day.

One day over spring break, AmeriCorps members met the Coordinator Laneil Bryant at the Steele Lane Community Center to paint signs and prep for the art project. On Saturday April 23rd ten AmeriCorps members and Site Supervisor Kimberly Copperberg were out supporting the event.

The CalSERVES team led face painting, bunny ears and duck head-band art projects, a photo booth with a bunny, and the main event…the egg hunt. There was also an animal petting zoo with bunnies, a chicken, goats, a cow, and a pig from a local 4H club. There were three egg hunts for children under 3 and for 4-5 year olds. Many families came out to enjoy the event, hundreds of people throughout the day.

2011 Cesar Chavez Health Fair Report

Healthy Eating and Active Living

'This is a great event and I hope to be able to take part in it for many years to come!” 

Silvia Floriano, Health Fair Participant

The 2011 Cesar Chávez Day Health Fair at Roseland Elementary School drew over 3,300 attendees and 63 participating community organizations.

Health Fair Highlights

• Dental Screenings: St. Joseph’s Medical Center screened 104 children for tooth decay, finding 31 children who needed dental care and 6 of those children presenting urgent dental needs.
• Vaccines: Sonoma County Public Health provided Tdap (Whooping Cough) vaccines to 219 children, ages 10-18, as well as to 89 adults.
• Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, and Cholesterol Screening: St. Joseph’s Medical Center provided blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol screenings to 59 individuals, issuing 50 referrals for follow up care.
• Asthma Screenings: Community Action Partnership provided 15 Asthma screenings.
• BMI Testing: Nursing students from Sonoma State University provided 17 Body Mass Index (BMI) screenings for families.
• Free Healthy Foods: The Redwood Empire Food Bank donated over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce and free healthy snacks were also served.
• Free Bike Helmets and Repairs: Safe Routes to School and AmeriCorps volunteers fitted 160 donated bicycle helmets, and NorCal Cycling repaired 125 bikes at the Health Fair.
• Free Hair Cuts: More than 80 hair cuts were provided by community volunteers.

 Active Living

• Kaiser Permanente’s Community Theater Troupe led the Kids Course, an interactive obstacle
• course for kids that helps make fitness fun.
• Boy Scouts of America provided a Rock wall that had the whole community up and climbing!
• Obstacle Course Playhouse and other fun games encouraged children to stay active and have fun.

Local Representatives in Attendance

• Efren Carrillo, Supervisor, County of Sonoma
• Ernesto Olivares, Mayor of Santa Rosa
• Susan Gorin, Santa Rosa City Council

 Entertainment

• Windsor Bloco provided dancing and drumming.
• Aztec Dance Troupe performed traditional dances.
• Face-painting, magic shows, and balloon animals delighted fair attendees.

AmeriCorps

121 AmeriCorps members from the CalSERVES program, West County Community Services, and the North Bay Conservation Corps came to support this event. AmeriCorps members led activities for children, served as support to the health care providers and as translators for families.

Sponsors, Donors and Volunteers
The Fair organizer is CalSERVES, an educational program based at the Napa County Office of Education. Primary sponsors of the 2011 Health Fair include First 5 Sonoma County, Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph’s Health System, Redwood Credit Union, and Community Action Partnership. Additional Fair sponsors included Redwood Empire Food Bank, Safe Routes to School, NorCal Cycling, Santa Rosa Police Department, Roseland Elementary School, Radio Lazer, La Fondita Restaurant, and Clover Stornetta. Many businesses and agencies in the community came together to support the event, including 25 community organizations that donated goods and services worth over $6,000. Over 452 health providers, community volunteers, and AmeriCorps members provided 2,159 volunteer hours in support of the event.

CalSERVES is awarded a PE grant to support Healthy Behaviors Learning Centers

Julie McClure, CalSERVES Program Director

The Napa County Office of Education and partners have received funding from the U.S. Department of Education to run a comprehensive physical activity, health and nutrition program to directly serve 2,000 K–8th grade students in 20 elementary and middle schools.

The program will also expand the CalSERVES’ Healthy Behavior Learning Centers to support the implementation of comprehensive PE, health, and nutrition education in after school across California. This program will provide support to after school programs across the state in their efforts to provide high quality PE and nutrition programming to those most in need.

HBI provides each partner school with

• physical and nutrition education material and supplies
• funding for innovative physical education and nutrition instruction
• training for staff members
• equipment to support the curricula
• follow up coaching, feedback, and evaluation of progress

The Learning Centers will offer training, site visits, and follow up coaching to all California state-funded after school programs, impacting 300 additional staff each year and exposing them to best practices in physical and nutrition education particularly in the after school setting.

This program will fill the gap created by insufficient PE time during the school day, which in turn will help students make progress towards a healthier lives.

The first Healthy Behaviors training is on 1/20/2011 in Santa Rosa, CA is open to all after school staff in any state funded after school program in California. Registration is now open: 
www.sonomacan.org/trainings.php

Fun Filled Summer Camp at RL Stevens!!

Katie O'Looney, Supervising Teacher

For the past 4 weeks, both Wright Charter School and RL Stevens Elementary School students have been enjoying the sunshine and activities that our AmeriCorps members have been planning. Each day, the Boys and Girls Club and our students are provided a free nutritious lunch from the Redwood Empire Food Bank. After they eat lunch, they rotate through 4 different centers from 1:30-4:00pm. This year we had a HUGE jump in enrollment up to 100 students. The mentors are doing a wonderful job ending their year of service and the kids are enjoying each and every minute from the water games to the arts and crafts activities.

Summer Fun: Recreation Sensation

Lindsday Rizzo, CalSERVES Program Coordinator

This summer, CalSERVES and the Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks Department are partnering to bring the Recreation Sensation program to three school sites in Santa Rosa. Both CalSERVES and Rec and Park staff members have come together at each site to provide an amazing summer recreation program that provides kids ages 5-13 with a fun, and safe place to be this summer. 

CalSERVES mentors alongside Recreation and Parks staff members trained for a week in June to gear up for this summer's program. They bonded over team-building activities, songs and games to form a united Recreation Sensation staff.

Recreation Sensation is a free program for kids in the surrounding community. The program engages kids in activities and field trips from 9am to 4:30pm each day. Whether it's playing soccer, singing camp songs, getting fancy during salon day or letting loose on the slip-n-slide, the mentors and the kids are having a blast.