Keyword/Tag: volunteers

Humans of Brighter Bites (April 2017, 1 of 3)

 

Bilingual/Bilingüe

“I remember that at the age of seven I started to eat fruits and vegetables because I watched my father. He loved papaya, pineapple, watermelon, among others. With him, I learned to eat vegetables. I like beet, spinach, onion, tomato, lettuce, and cabbage, and as I grew, I would combine these foods with meat, fish, eggs. Later, at 19 years old, I settled in the state of Oaxaca and there I got to know another type of food. The Oaxacan gastronomy is varied, diverse, and with many flavors in addition to being very seasoned, so I began to try more vegetables and fruits that are found in Oaxaca.”

“Recuerdo que a la edad de siete años empecé a comer frutas y verduras porque veía a mi padre. Le encantaba la papaya, la pina, la sandía, entre otras. Con él aprendí a comer vegetales. Me gusta betabel, espinaca, cebolla, jitomate, lechuga, y col, y conforme fui creciendo fui combinando estos alimentos con carne, pescado, huevos. Posteriormente, a los 19 años de edad, radiqué en el estado de Oaxaca y allí conocí otro tipo de alimentación. La gastronomía oaxaqueña es variada, diversa y con muchos sabores además de ser muy condimentada, entonces empecé a conocer más las verduras y frutos que se dan en Oaxaca.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

The Facts Features New Brighter Bites Program in Freeport.

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On Thursday March 30th,  The Facts reporter Erinn Callahan visited O.A. Fleming Elementary School in Freeport to report on the newest Texas chapter of the Brighter Bites program. She experienced first hand the thrill of a produce bagging as volunteers from the school community worked quickly to transform the cafeteria into a well oiled produce-packing assembly line.

Read the full story Here.

Humans of Brighter Bites (March 2017, 2 of 3)

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“I remember a few years ago, I made homemade mashed potatoes for the first time, because my now fiance and I had this argument. He’s like, ‘The boxed ones are the same.’ I was like, ‘No, the fresh mashed potatoes are so much better.’ And now I regret saying that because now I always have to make the fresh ones. Now I’m engaged and over the years of us being together, the way he eats has changed because he eats with my family a lot and I cook a lot. I don’t buy chips or things like that, so the way he eats has changed. And now he’s like, ‘Gosh, did I eat bad when I was growing up?’ And I’m like, ‘It’s just different. We come from different places.’”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (March 2017, 1 of 3)

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“I grew up with two parents that are both foreigners. My mom’s from Malaysia – she grew up Indian – and then my dad is Dutch. So we ate a lot of Indian food growing up. Curries and spices and Tandoori chicken. I would say we ate really healthy. We ate lots of vegetables. We cooked a lot at home. She would go to a couple local Indian stores and buy spices – a lot of turmeric and garam masala. I just remember eating at home a lot and cooking a lot. I remember we didn’t have a Diet Coke until we were in middle school and that was because we finally had a babysitter. So yeah, I had a good, healthy experience growing up.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Austin Marathon Benefit Less Than Two Weeks Away

In September when we announced that Brighter Bites had been selected as one of the 27 official charities of the event by the Austin Gives Miles program. Since then, we’ve created a team, raised funds, and developed new partnerships all as a result of our involvement with this event!

Humans of Brighter Bites (February 2017, 1 of 3)

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“The breakfast is different in my country. You have fresh bread and you make it with cheese. You eat black olives and green olives. For lunch – heavy. Lunch is good with vegetables and everything. For dinner, we don’t make anything too heavy, some cheese. I need to lose weight. But for Ramadan, you can’t think about that. One month for Ramadan, we fast all day from 5 am to 8 pm. Only eating at night. But there is too much good food, too many different foods, too many sweets. Every night is a different salad, different soup, different juices. Because you’re hungry, you get too many ideas of what you want to eat. You have to do extra work, but it’s good because every night all the family is together. You’re feeling something, I don’t know. Something inside feels happy all month. I’m not tired. Never.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (January 2017, 3 of 3)

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“I work nights. I’m sleeping during the day. So when I cook, I start cooking around 4. Dinner will be ready when my wife gets home. Because I have high blood pressure and I’m a diabetic, fried foods are pretty much out. I may fry every once in a while, but we mostly bake in our house. Baked chicken, pork steak, and steak. I don’t like barbecuing brisket because it takes too long. I can’t eat fish, I’m allergic. The doctor be like, ‘You need to eat fish.’ But I’m like, ‘I can’t, I’m allergic to it.’ I break out and be in the hospital. You ever see the elephant man? That’d be me right there. But me, I love cooking. I’m the cook. Yeah, when I cook, I’m in my own world.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Parent Volunteers Love Brighter Bites!

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To give you a glimpse of the impact of Brighter Bites on our families, we interviewed Angelina Bautista (above left) and Ana Beltran, two amazing moms at Lorenzo DeZavala Elementary in West Dallas who regularly give back to their school community by volunteering week after week with Brighter Bites.

How long have you been involved with Brighter Bites?

Angelina: Since the program began at our school. Going on 3 years. I like to help with both the bagging and distribution. We deliver bags to the teachers’ rooms too. They say hello to the students – giving a quick hug to the kids they know – and hand the teachers their bags. The kids always oohhh and ahhhh when we deliver the bags, and the teachers are equally excited.

Ana: 2 years; I was here when the program began and then came back this year. Our daughters are in the same 1st grade class and are close friends. They come hang out while we help pass out bags and samples.

Angelina: We will continue to help as long as y’all are here and will let us!

What do you like about Brighter Bites?

Angelina: It’s a really good program. It helps me save money on my groceries.

Ana: I agree. And my kids love the food, especially the fruit. My son who helps us out at bagging and distributions, started eating two apples, one in each hand, while we were bagging today. I had to tell him to save some for his sister!

Angelina: My daughter loves the fruit too. She also likes the cucumbers.

What changes has the program had on your family?

Ana: The program helps us eat more healthy foods. We also get a lot of good ideas about how to prepare the food in our bags and try new things at home. The sample is great for the kids.

A 6-year-old Boy who Serves Fresh Produce Samples to Others

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Meet our young volunteer Juan Muñoz! He is our most dedicated fun food sample promoter at our summer site, Boys and Girls Club in Oak Cliff, Dallas.

Since our summer distributions started in June, Juan has been eager to help encourage families to try our tasty recipes that highlight a variety of fresh fruits and veggies. Juan believes that children should be exposed to as many different foods as possible. He says, “Every child should start out by eating all fruits and veggies and that way when they get older, they will like to eat everything!”

Juan’s enthusiasm for convincing all of his “customers” that walk through the door to try the sample is contagious and truly brightens everyone’s experience with Brighter Bites!

Here’s to our Volunteers!

We love showing appreciation to our incredible volunteers which is why we gladly accepted an invitation to the volunteer appreciation potluck at John Q. Adams Elementary! Jacqueline Noyola, one of our program coordinators, gave a much deserved thanks to the volunteers then it was time to mingle and feast! Brighter Bites Volunteers and Staff Elizabeth Salazar, Jacqueline Noyola, and Angelica Gurrola The volunteers all brought some of their favorite dishes including chicken tinga, homemade salsa, and a cabbage salad made with Brighter Bites pickled carrots! It was nice being able to talk to the volunteers outside of distributions, especially since we weren’t elbow deep in apples! We brought fresh fruit with a peanut butter dip that was a huge hit! So good in fact, that we wanted to share with you. Hope you enjoy this delectable dessert as much as we did! Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

Place 2/3 cup of nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt, 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, and 3 tablespoons of honey in a small bowl and mix well. Serve with fruit.