PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s giving season — and what better way to honor it than providing free, healthy, and organic food options to some of the city’s most underserved elementary school children.
More than 150 volunteers from the Philadelphia-based nonprofit B Inspired will be doing just that this weekend. On Saturday, they will be packing around 300 bags with foods like passion fruit, berries, granola, and whole wheat snacks for kids at Mary McLeoud Bethune School, Tanner Duckery School, Paul L. Dunbar School, and Morton McMichael School.
Liz Harris, co-founder of the nonprofit, says nutrition is a big part of their program, as many kids may not have easy access to healthy food options.
“We discovered that they had a palette for these types of foods and they enjoyed them,” she explained. “And if we brought the food, they would eat it and fill their bodies and get the important nutrients that they perhaps were missing. So that has become a huge part of our program.”
Harris says this is also an opportunity for kids to bring the foods home and test out what they like or don't like with their families and try new recipes.
According to Feeding America, about 25.5% of Philadelphians under age 18 are food insecure.