MUSKEGON, Mich. — March is National Nutrition Month, a time to focus on the importance of a balanced diet and eating healthy foods. But sadly, for some, accessing those foods is a challenge.
That is why Kids' Food Basket chooses March for its "Go Orange" campaign.
Go Orange aims to not only spread the message of what the nonprofit does, but also to encourage others to help with its mission to give children throughout West Michigan access to nourishing food.
READ MORE: Kids' Food Basket invites community to Go Orange for National Nutrition Month
Muskegon County is one of the areas of growth for Kids' Food Basket.
Carina Freeman, a sixth grade teacher, knows how important healthy food is.
"Right here in our community is a food desert, which means we don't have access, walking access to healthy, fresh foods," Freeman explained. "That affects your brain, that affects your learning."
Freeman made it a priority to feed the bellies and brains in her classroom.
"You can't teach a student if they're hungry," Freeman added. "They need to eat. They need to have a nutritious breakfast first thing in the morning. As a mother and their teacher, that's really important to me, so as soon as they walk in the door, I have breakfast laid out for them and we eat together as a family. We chat over breakfast and it goes all the way through. We have snacks...and then lunch and then we get sent home with fresh food."
Kids' Food Basket sends home a sack supper every day with many students at Three Oaks Public School Academy.
Andre McClanahan, the transportation director, is in charge of distributing those bags.
"Somebody's coming to them saying, 'here, I am investing in you,'" McClanahan said. "It's almost like we're doing something nice for them, and every child, they just love when we pamper them and so giving them those lunches puts a smile on their face, especially on days where we have the little meat sticks and the puddings, that really puts a smile [on them], so we kind of become their heroes."
Mrs. Freeman also uses Kids' Food Basket as part of her curriculum.
"I wanted to make math tangible for my students and so I worked with KFB to help them see ratios and cook fresh foods with that," she explained. "We had community members come in and taste the food and that's been wonderful.
She even took her class to the farm in Kent County so they could see how the food grows, how it's cooked and then enjoy those fresh foods with their friends.
Mrs. Freeman hopes this plants a seed in these young minds and inspires them to be the change in their community.
