Through the Cambridge in Motion campaign, the Cambridge Public Health Department has awarded 13 local organizations a total of $ 12,500 in mini grants to develop activities that promote a healthy diet and active living.
Dawn Olcott, Manager of Public Health and Nutrition Services at the Cambridge Public Health Service, said: ..
The 2022 Mini Grant Winners and their projects are:
- Cambridge Bike GivebackWill donate bicycles to residents of Cambridge who need them and will host community events in the Port, Allewif Area and Cambridge Side Mall. This event includes a free refurbished bike gift and a bike rodeo with skill training.
- Cambridge City Producers To help low-income residents grow their homes, we help build garden beds, provide saplings, and hold weekly meetings to share knowledge.
- Cambridge Economic Opportunity Commission (CEOC) Through face-to-face and online surveys, seek feedback on the most desirable foods from food pantry clients. The results will be shared with the pantry manager, allowing you to coordinate food orders and share recipes.
- Community Arts Center Extend your children’s yoga therapy program to include strategies for coping with stress and trauma, including mental and physical awareness.
The Equity Roadmap’s Friday Night Hype Mentoring Program hosts a monthly community gathering for junior high school students and their families, including healthy eating. Children have conversations and physical activity with mentors. - Hagati kindergarten Buy total motor skills equipment such as tactile balls, balance boards, scooters that require whole body movement and improve your child’s balance, muscle development and coordination. This device helps children develop skills that they may not have the opportunity to learn at home.
- Helping Hand Food Pantry’s SpiceItUp project Buy spices used in traditional dishes so that clients can cook healthy dishes from their home country.
- HRIAdventure Kids, an affordable housing non-profit organization, is a series of free monthly outdoor activities for young people and families living in HRI housing. Activities include yoga, rock climbing, hiking, navigation skills and scavenger hunting.
- Mass Farmers Market Show SNAP recipients how to maximize the profits they make from different institutions when shopping at local farmers markets. The team recruits SNAP users to review new guides for SNAP shoppers and ensure that the content is clear and easy to understand.
- New Town School, Family cooperative kindergartens create community-centric edible gardens. Toddlers and preschoolers can help plant and harvest gardens, learn about healthy eating, and cook and share with the homeless community of First Church Cambridge.
- Prospect Hill Academy Collaborate with local gardening programs and multicultural culinary teachers to give elementary school teachers and children natural, international and healthy food through pollinosis forest visits, gardening and cooking with fresh and healthy ingredients. Train on a good diet.
- Violetta Montessori School Train up-and-coming gardeners by involving children and their families in the cultivation of vegetables for snacks in two established garden plots of the Squirrel Brand Garden. Mini grants fund gardening tools and fixtures, gardening books and other items.
- YWCA Cambridge As part of our outreach efforts to bring female shelter residents to service, we will distribute healthy “takeaway” bags to all Tanner Residence clients. Gift bags include fresh food, information on low-priced grocery resources and health services, and daily table coupons.
Healthy eating and active living are one of the city’s three health priorities. The other two priorities are mental health and community / social resilience.
The 2022 Mini Grant is funded by the Cambridge Public Health Department and is funded by the Violetta Montessori School with additional funding from a partnership from the city’s birth to the third grade. The Cambridge in Motion Mini Grant Award has been available since 2012.
The Mini Grant Program is a partnership between the Cambridge Public Health Service, the Cambridge Food Fitness Policy Council, and the City of Cambridge.
For more information, please contact the Cambridge Public Health Service at Dawn Olcott, dolcott@challiance.org or 617-665-3809.
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