Fruit Salad and Wholesome Meals

by Kristen Welker, fourth-grade teacher at Thomas Gregg Neighborhood School and volunteer

My name is Kristen, and I'm a volunteer for The Patachou Foundation. As a teacher, it seemed like a natural fit for me to dedicate my extra time to serving wholesome, scratch-made meals to students. With your support, The Patachou Foundation is serving over 900 meals a week to hungry kids after school.This year, The Patachou Foundation asked me to pilot their Food Explorers Club after school at one of the eight schools they serve.Our kids get hands-on with lessons about growing food, exploring new tastes, and my personal favorite, we get to cook together. My students are so excited to try new foods and recipes from guacamole to fruit salad and even raw vegetables.Sebastian, one of my fourth-graders in the Food Explorers Club, thought he didn’t like fruit. But he loved the fruit salad with mint and lemon juice we made in class so much, he went home and made it for his family.He even improvised a little, using the orange juice they already had in the fridge instead of lemon juice. His family was thrilled and Sebastian was so proud to know that he can make healthy choices that taste delicious.I'm proud to be a part of this important work to make sure kids in our city don’t go to bed hungry. And, just like Sebastian, these students make healthy habits a part of their futures by connecting with the food they are eating.