PROGRAMS
HELP’s Goal: Growing Healthy Communities
HELP's goal is to encourage healthy living by offering nutrition education and physical activity to the community of Monterey County by teaching students and adults how to make healthy food choices and to inrease the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
After School
This program is offered to students in the 3rd to 5th grade in Monterey County School Districts. Divided into three components, the first incorporates a variety of hands-on activities which teach students the importance of eating a balanced diet, ways to make healthy food choices, and how to make their own healthy snacks and meals.
The second component focuses on presenting positive experiences with physical activity and is based on the National Association of Sports and Physical Education (NASPE) standards. Students also learn the importance of physical activity, nutrition, and healthy eating through weekly physical activity sessions that include mini health classes.
The third component provides nutrition education through the garden experience. Instructors work with the students once a week to teach the importance of the up-keep of the garden and the nutritional benefits of the items being grown.
Simply Fresh
These 60-second TV spots feature innovative cooking that promotes good nutrition and local brand awareness of agriculture products. The program is sponsored by regional Agriculture companies and the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. Each spot airs approximately 230 times per month in English and Spanish on all regional broadcast and cable channels.
Our TV chef also does cooking demonstrations and produce sampling at local schools, farmers' markets, community events, local clubs, grocery stores, and special events. The cooking demonstrations teach participants how to transform beloved traditional dishes into more healthful, equally tasty, vegetable-enriched recipes.
Family Nights
Family nights increase healthy eating and physical activity by bringing both parents and children together for nutrition education sessions with hands-on activities. These classes focus on specific themes, such as "Let's go to the Market", "Healthy Parties", "Eat Your Rainbow", and "Healthy Eating Lifestyle Principles- Help Choose Your Life!" Each theme has a specific curriculum where parent and child learn the importance of healthy eating. They are shown how to incorporate what they have learned in their everyday grocery buying and meal preparation.
The teachers facilitate parent discussions that underscore the importance of eating more fruits and vegetables while participating in regular physical activity. Parents also learn strategies to overcome barriers or challenges in getting their children to eat a variety of produce. The children are taught about seasonal fruits and vegetables, label reading and product content, as well as the benefits of eating a rainbow of fresh produce. The children and parents are able to prepare and taste varioius healthy snacks, smoothies, and salads.
The HELP teaching staff help parents and children explore convenient family physical activities and various ways of how to "move and groove together". Families are taught that healthy eating goes hand in hand with a healthy lifestyle.
Early Childhood
This early childhood nutrition program is referred to as Fruits & Veggies 101, and it incorporates several learning mediums. It introduces children age 3 to 5 enrolled in Head Start or Pre-School to the healthy and FUN world of produce with a delicious, hands-on program that takes children from "yuck" to "yum" while teaching healthy eating habits. These lessons occur once a week for a four-week series including one parent education meeting and one teacher-training session where they are given lesson plans to enable them to continue nutrition education as part of the children's regular curriculum. Each class teaches children about the origins and growing processes of Monterey County produce. Children receive produce samples and simple cooking lessons in which they actively participate, such as making a fresh salad, fruit smoothie, or applesauce.
HELP is hoping to expand this program and offer gardening as a second phase with additional funding.
Parent Education
HELP has expanded the Parent Nutition Education to other venues, such as the Boys and Girls Club, Mothers of Pre-Schoolers, parent clubs at various schools, and migrant family programs. The classes encourage parents to read nutrition labels, understand various serving sizes, and increase fun physical activity. Our parent educators present information in a discussion format followed by 45 minutes of physical activity. Each class focuses on a new topic that always expands on the lesson taught the week prior. These 4-week sessions conclude with hands on cooking demo and surveys to gauge parent understanding of the information and satisfaction with the ways it was presented.
Community Events
HELP actively networks with the local community, attending Nutrition Fitness Collaborative of the Central Coast meetings, spreading the word at city and community health fairs, as well as presenting to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Medical Adventure Camp students. HELP has also developed and regularly updates an attractive, bilingual, community-oriented web site. The web site enhances a strategic partnership with Central Coast Parent Magazine.
Cooking Demonstrations
Live cooking demos and produce sampling in local farmers markets, schools, clubs, parent clubs, community health fairs and specail events. HELP recipes are featured in each issue of Central Coast Parent Magazine and utilized at Salinas Valley Memorail Hospital's cafeteria and patient meals. Recipes are on the HELP web site in both English and Spanish.
Community Chef Demonstrations 2008-2009
HELP Program Evaluation 2008-2009
HELP Event Statistics 2008-2009