{"id":31211,"date":"2013-09-21T07:40:31","date_gmt":"2013-09-21T07:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/challengedetroit.org\/blog\/brandikeeler\/?p=10"},"modified":"2013-09-21T07:40:31","modified_gmt":"2013-09-21T07:40:31","slug":"meet-up-and-eat-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/meet-up-and-eat-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Growling and Giving: Meet Up and Eat Up with the Detroit Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I walked into the market I was delighted by the bright red, orange, green and yellow produce glistening in the warm Tuesday sun. I was steered by a group of giggling school kids eagerly racing toward the friendly Eastern Market vendor smiling and offering free samples. Gabriella, an animated 4th<\/sup> grader wearing two braided ponytails, smiled, holding up a giant ear of fresh corn, exclaiming, \u201cMy mom loves <\/i>to make soup with corn and I got 6 of them for only two dollars!\u201d Gabriella searched for the biggest ears she could find while her excited classmates raced to do the same.<\/p>\n

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She was one of 29 other students from the Academy of the Americas on a field trip for Meet Up and Eat Up<\/a> with the Detroit Lions<\/a> an event coordinated by my host company,\u00a0United Way for Southeastern Michigan<\/a>\u00a0in partnership with\u00a0Fair Food Network<\/a> and Gleaners<\/a> to ensure that children learn the importance of healthy fruits and vegetables. But Gabriella\u2019s school won\u2019t be the only one benefitting from the program. Every Tuesday from September 10th<\/sup> until October 15th<\/sup> a different elementary school will get a chance to enjoy the event with a different Detroit Lions Alumni player. And I’m beyond excited to be one of the staff members attending as a volunteer every week!<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s nothing more exciting than seeing 30 enthusiastic elementary school kids ROAR like Lions with a Lions\u2019 Football legend! Unfortunately in certain Detroit communities the loudest growls are the ones coming from empty stomachs. Access to basic needs like food resources and education is one of our top focuses at the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. Closing the hunger gap isn\u2019t just about giving people food; it\u2019s about teaching adults and children the importance of quality nutritious food choices.<\/p>\n

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This past Tuesday the day started with a team of United Way volunteers preparing shopping bags with Lions trinkets and healthy recipes for the kids. Once the bus from Marcus Garvey Academy arrived, the students enjoyed a pre-shopping workout led by Playworks<\/a> with Roary the Lions\u2019 mascot. They jumped rope, played foursquare, and hoola-hooped while learning the benefits of exercise.<\/p>\n

The students had a visit from Detroit Lions\u2019 alumni, Herman Moore<\/a> who talked about healthy eating and staying fit. \u201cIn this day and age kids are really just sitting,\u201d Moore explained. \u201cThis getting them up and communicating. It\u2019s about physical fitness and activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

After saying goodbye to Moore, students, guided by United Way volunteers, shopped Eastern Market<\/a> and learned about the Fair Food Network<\/a> and Double Up Food Bucks<\/a>, which let families use their bridge card to get double the money for Michigan grown produce. The kids were able to take $3 of money and buy $6 worth of groceries with Double Up tokens.<\/p>\n

Following shopping the kids (and volunteers) enjoyed lunch prepared by the Lions\u2019 Chef Joe Nader<\/a>. Chef Joe and his assistant did a live cooking demonstration. The first time I volunteered he made a\u00a0tasty rainbow salsa, which included kiwi, papaya, poblano peppers, yellow pepper and strawberries.\u00a0Unfortunately for me the following week, my nut allergy prevented me from trying the delicious smelling citrus smoothie made with fresh fruit, yogurt and almond milk; but the kids loved it.<\/p>\n

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The day came full circle when the kids learned about the effects of food on the body, thanks to medical students from Wayne <\/a>State<\/a>\u00a0University<\/a>. The students\u00a0squirmed and giggled as they got to look (and touch) an actual human brain, liver, set of lungs and heart!\u00a0It was great to volunteer and help the children learn about nutrition. I can\u2019t wait for the next event! It’s amazing that through Challenge Detroit I can help the Greater Detroit region on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

\"Bkeeler1_001334\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You too can help continue wonderful efforts like Meet Up and Eat Up by donating food and school supplies<\/a> at one of our upcoming Stuff the Bus events this Fall. The United Way for SE Michigan always has ways that you can give, volunteer or donate in order to help the Detroit community. Check out on our website<\/a> today to see how you can make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I walked into the market I was delighted by the bright red, orange, green and yellow produce glistening in the warm Tuesday sun. I was steered by a group of giggling school kids eagerly racing toward the friendly Eastern Market vendor smiling and offering free samples. Gabriella, an animated 4th grader wearing two braided […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,18],"tags":[146,165,166,167,71,168,169,170,171,172,173],"class_list":["post-31211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-givedetroit","category-workdetroit","tag-givedetroit","tag-brandi","tag-eastern-market","tag-food","tag-give","tag-healthy","tag-keeler","tag-kids","tag-lions","tag-united-way","tag-uwsem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}