The Healthy Food Gift Certificate Program is one of the most exciting things we've done here at the WCFB, and it has been very well-received by our clients.On Thursday, May 6th, we took 60 senior citizens to both Samway Market and Lee's Produce. (Sean Healy, a White Center CDA Community Building Resident Fellow, is also employed as a school bus driver and was able to donate his time to drive White Center Food Bank clients from the food bank to Samway Supermarket and Lee’s Produce, then back to the food bank on a school bus.) They were given the opportunity to purchase $5.00 worth of fresh fruits and vegetables at each market. Most left with a couple of very full bags.
I talked with one lady who is battling cancer, and she told me her doctors have told her she needs to be eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, but she confided that she simply can't afford them. She had never shopped at either of these markets before and was pleasantly surprised to see just how inexpensive things were. She indicated that she would be shopping there a lot in the future. She left Lee's with two pounds of strawberries, bananas, mangos, green onions, grapes, and tomatoes, as happy as a child at Christmas!
See the WCCDA blog website for more pictures.
(Photo by Ian Dapiaoen, courtesy of WCCDA blog website.)