Keyword/Tag: Dallas

Program Directors Recognized as Walmart Community Playmakers

Posted on March 23, 2018 by -

Brighter Bites is thrilled to recognize two superstar program directors: Alicia Farhat of Dallas and Melanie Button of New York City. Alicia and Melanie were recently honored by the Walmart Community Playmaker Program, which recognizes individuals dedicated to improving the lives of others and being a force for good in their communities. Alicia received her Walmart Community Playmaker award at a Dallas Mavericks basketball game, and Melanie received her award at a New York Knicks game.

Alicia Farhat joined Brighter Bites in the summer of 2014, leading the Brighter Bites’ expansion into Dallas, the organization’s second city. Alicia now leads a team of five full-time staff, serving 15 schools and nearly 4,000 families. Alicia additionally works with the North Texas Food Bank and other produce suppliers to send our families home with a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Brighter Bites Dallas Program Director Alicia Farhat receives her Community Playmaker Award at a Dallas Mavericks game.

Melanie Button joined Brighter Bites in 2017 to lead our first program outside of Texas. Melanie oversees everything Brighter Bites in New York City, including programs in two schools in Queens and our relationships with City Harvest, D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York, Inc. and other produce donors.

Brighter Bites NYC Program Director Melanie Button receiving her Community Playmaker Award at a New York Knicks game, pictured with former New York Knicks player Larry Johnson.

Congrats Alicia and Melanie!

 

Wrapping up a Wonderful Season

Posted on December 19, 2017 by -

Schools around the Dallas area have successfully completed a full season of Brighter Bites, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with great food and the company of all our amazing volunteers. There were nothing but smiling faces at our Uplift Infinity and Joe May Elementary celebrations. We cannot wait to see everyone in the spring!

 

“Fall into Healthy Habits” Music Program

Posted on October 27, 2017 by -

On October 19th, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st grade students at Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School in Dallas, TX celebrated healthy eating and the recent start of Brighter Bites programming with a healthy-food-themed music program: Fall into Healthy Habits. The students sang five songs for their parents, including Apple Tree, What’s in My Lunchbox? and We Love Healthy Food. 🙂 In the songs, students named some of their favorite fruits and veggies…tomatoes, potatoes, apples, and strawberries to name a few!

Students also decorated brown lunch bags with pictures of their ideas of healthy eating!

We think Bethune’s students are berry talented!

Special thanks to Bethune’s music teacher Ms. Redding, who put together  this special event.

Dallas and Austin Begin Programming

Posted on September 22, 2017 by -

It’s that time of year again!

Brighter Bites headed back to school this month with programming in both Dallas and Austin at 14 schools. Students learned all about eating the rainbow and how yummy fruit can be while picking up their first batch of fresh produce to take home.

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In Dallas, students and families got to try out the yummy Perfect Pear and Brussels Sprout Salad and our Watermelon Salsa, while Austin families tried one of our favorites, Mango Tango Salsa.

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Many Dallas families got to try Bok Choy for the first time, a spoon cabbage often found in Chinese cooking. They also went home with delicious blueberries and strawberries.

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A huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers – we couldn’t do it without you! Here’s to a great season with all of our families in Austin and Dallas!

Brighter Bites Featured in Edible Dallas & Fort Worth

Posted on September 1, 2017 by -

We are thrilled to shine a bright light on our Brighter Bites Dallas team, which was featured in the fall 2017 issue of Edible Dallas & Fort Worth. Edible DFW writer Terri Taylor visited a Brighter Bites distribution site earlier this year to experience the Brighter Bites formula of produce distribution + nutrition education + fun food experience.

Check out the story here.

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Dallas Mayor’s Intern Flourishes at Brighter Bites

Posted on August 13, 2017 by -

Earlier this year, the Dallas Mayor’s Intern Fellows Program selected Brighter Bites to host a high school student for an eight-week paid summer internship that introduces local public high school students to careers and employment opportunities in industries and companies where they have expressed interest. Our team was fortunate to receive a sponsorship from Dallas Independent School District to hire a summer intern for the months of June and July. We chose Rebecca Nava, a junior at A. Maceo Smith New Tech High School. Rebecca excelled during her internship and made meaningful connections with Brighter Bites staff, parents, and campers at our sites. Read her first-person account of the summer below!

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My experience as an intern at Brighter Bites has been incredible. Coming into this internship, I did not have job experience, and I did not know what to expect from the people I was going to work with for the summer. I was nervous about everything I did and said. I was intimidated by the fact that I would just be a high school student surrounded by professionals who are all actively impacting society. I felt as if I would be out of place in such an important work space.

Despite all of this, the women of Brighter Bites welcomed me with open arms, and I could not be more thankful. They invested their time to meet with me, work with me, and treat me as a part of their team. In the time that I have worked with them, I learned how they order produce for their partner sites, practiced my drawing skills by helping to create recipe illustrations, and even assisted in the development of social media posts. Along with learning about different aspects of the Brighter Bites process, I was exposed to aspects of health and wellness, especially in the community setting, that were new to me. Moreover, I had access to people who inspired me to strive to do my best and achieve great things.

I was so surprised to be in such a positive work environment where everyone was not only understating and respectful, but also responsible. The Brighter Bites team in Dallas knows the true meaning of teamwork. I feel as though this internship has prepared me for future jobs because it has provided me with work experience and insight into the expectations of a work environment. I can wholeheartedly say that I had one of the best internships a student could ever ask for.

WFAA News Features Brighter Bites Dallas Team

Posted on August 3, 2017 by -

Brighter Bites families and volunteers from Park South YMCA were featured on WFFA8, the ABC affiliate station in Dallas, this Thursday moring. Participants excitedly reflected on their recent experiences cooking and tasting new fruits and vegetables they would otherwise never have tried without Brighter Bites.

“People aren’t adventurous like that when you don’t have the money. They don’t want to take a chance on buying edamame, and you don’t like it, and now the money is gone and you’re still hungry,” said Rodrigua Ross, executive director of Park South YMCA. This is where Brighter Bites comes in to offer a risk free way to explore fresh foods.

To hear more from Ross and other Brighter Bites participants watch the full video HERE

Lettuce Celebrate our Dallas Volunteers!

Posted on June 8, 2017 by -

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Come On, Join the Party!

This spring, our teams had the opportunity to celebrate the hard work and heavy lifting of their volunteers. On May 25 the North Texas Food Bank served as party headquarters for Brighter Bites volunteers in Dallas. The celebration honored the amazing group of community members who contributed a total of 7,088 hours towards the bagging and distribution of more than 1.4 million pounds of produce over the academic year! That’s definitely something worth celebrating!

Volunteers were treated to a healthy breakfast buffet featuring egg frittatas and our very own Brighter Bites Apple Cake.

Volunteers were treated to a healthy breakfast buffet featuring egg frittatas and our very own Brighter Bites Apple Cake.

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Representatives from each school show off their fruit and vegetable awards, which celebrate each unique team of volunteers.

Representatives from each school show off their fruit and vegetable awards, which celebrate each unique team of volunteers.

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Volunteers and staff alike couldn't get enough of the dress up options at the photo booth.

Volunteers and staff alike couldn’t get enough of the dress up options at the photo booth.

 

A Taste of Brighter Bites
What does a Brighter Bites celebratory breakfast taste like?

Try our Apple Cake for yourself!

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INGREDIENTS 1½ large red apples, thinly sliced
1 tsp + 1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup + 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 egg
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extractDIRECTIONSPreheat oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sliced apples, cinnamon, and 1 cup of applesauce until the apple slices are evenly coated. Then, layer the apple slices on the bottom of the pan.Next, in a mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients (egg, banana, sugar, vanilla, and the remaining cup of applesauce) and mix with a spoon or an electric mixer until well incorporated. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until everything is well incorporated.Pour the cake batter over the sliced apples and spread evenly. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes and remove when done. Allow the cake to cool, then flip over onto a large platter. Slice into 24 pieces and enjoy!

KERA and Texas Standard Feature Brighter Bites in Dallas

Posted on March 20, 2017 by -

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Courtney Collins, a reporter from KERA FM (NPR for North Texas), traveled to John Q. Adams Elementary School in Dallas to report on Brighter Bites. While she was there, Collins had a chance to speak with Dallas Program Director Alicia Farhat and two of the school’s volunteer parents about the program. The piece not only aired locally on KERA, but was also picked up by Texas Standard, a regional NPR program carried on more than 25 stations across the state. Read and listen to the colorful story here.

 

(Brighter Bites volunteers working with produce provided by North Texas Food Bank and Dallas FreshPoint. Photo courtesy of Courtney Collins/KERA News)

Food Literacy and Fun Food Experiences Flourish in Dallas

Posted on February 27, 2017 by -

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At Brighter Bites, we value teaching families how to use and choose a different kind of fast food, and this semester we have amplified our efforts at our 15 Dallas-area Elementary Schools. With the kick off of the spring semester, our Dallas staff presented a deeper emphasis on the food literacy and food engagement program pillars of the Brighter Bites program.

Since teaching our kids to make healthy choices takes support from both their schools and their guardians, Brighter Bites works with school administrators and teachers, as well as parents and other family members, to ensure that children feel empowered to make bright, healthy food choices.

At schools, we train and support the teachers who utilize the interactive CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) nutrition lessons in their classroom. Since the beginning of the 2016-17 school year, teachers at the 15 Brighter Bites elementary schools in Dallas have taught more than 800 in-class CATCH lessons. These lessons include themes like Go, Slow and Whoa foods, Physical Activity Means GO, and Snacks for Party GO-ers. (GO foods refer to the healthiest foods: those that grow in the ground; contain one ingredient; do not have added salt, sugar/syrup, oils, cheese, or fats; and are neither nuts or beef.).

Teachers also support and emphasize Brighter Bites by using their own weekly produce as learning tools in math, science, and art. We have enjoyed reading teachers’ comments about the activities they conduct in their classrooms with Brighter Bites produce. Antonio Gallardo Perez, a Pre-K teacher at Lorenzo De Zavala Elementary, told us that he works with his students “on the importance of fruits and vegetables, how to differentiate a fruit from a vegetable, the relationship between color and nutrition, and the food pyramid.” Maria Solis, a 3rd grade teacher at Jack Lowe Sr. Elementary, made bar graphs with her students showing their favorite vegetables. So far teachers have conducted more than 80 activities outside of their CATCH nutrition lessons involving the Brighter Bites produce!

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Families are always excited to come to school to get their Brighter Bites produce and materials (nutrition handbooks, recipes, tips sheets, and how to’s). This semester we are making pick up even more engaging by adding a “CATCH Corner” at the distribution, where kids play games that incorporate weekly health messages.

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The Dallas Brighter Bites team is grateful for the support and enthusiasm of school administrations and teachers who are going the extra mile and turning their elementary schools into communities of health.