Project MANA - A Hunger Relief Agency

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a four part series by Gwen Straley for National Nutrition Month. Look for her articles every Friday in March.

March is National Nutrition Month, and that means Project MANA will be augmenting its education and outreach efforts in our community. National Nutrition Month is a campaign of the American Dietetic Association, first launched in 1973 as National Nutrition Week. In 1980, because of increased pressure and need for more education and outreach, the campaign lengthened to a month long event.

The motivation behind the month is to help consumers develop and maintain healthy eating habits and physical activity.

Though many people in our community know of Project MANA, not every one knows that the MANA acronym stands for “Making Adequate Nutrition Accessible.” That, of course, involves emergency food relief, but it also relies heavily on our nutrition education and outreach programs.  Therefore, during the month of March, we will be engaging in an assortment of nutrition-related events and programs.

We will begin by practicing what we preach, as the Project MANA staff will be hosting and competing in The Fruit and Veggie Challenge at the Parasol Building. The Fruit and Veggie Challenge will also be held in the elementary schools. 

Each competition will determine which office, or which classroom, consumes the most servings of fruit and vegetables during the month of March. The winning office in the Parasol Building will receive a lunch cooked by Project MANA Executive Director George LeBard.  The winning classroom will receive recognition in the paper for their outstanding nutritional practice. If you are interested in participating in the challenge as well, please contact us at (775) 298-0008.

Next, Project MANA will extend its efforts to promote healthy eating and exercise to its clients. We'll be including low budget recipes, nutritional information, and tips for easy exercise in our bags for distribution this month.

This month we will also launch Kids Can Cook, an after school course at Incline Middle School that teaches nutrition, basic cooking skills, and food safety to students.

Natalie Hull, our Nutrition Education Coordinator, will be teaching nutrition classes to second graders based on the Harvard School of Public Health's Healthy Eating Pyramid.

Lastly, keep your eyes out for more articles in the paper this month that will cover various aspects of nutrition and healthy eating.

Gwen Straley is the Community Outreach Coordinator and AmeriCorps Member at Project MANA. For more information on Project MANA, please check out www.projectmana.org or call (775) 298-0008. She is a 2003 graduate of Incline High School and graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. This is her first year as an AmeriCorp Volunteer with Project MANA.