More Vegetables from the Garden

Spring has sprung, at the YWCA which means that our talented Nutrition team is cooking up new ways to serve fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables to the children in our Early Learning and Empowerment Child Care programs. We are so grateful to be partnering with Grace Covenant’s Community Garden to receive produce grown specifically for our kitchen! Grace Covenant’s volunteer-run garden grows 8,000 pounds of vegetables every year and donates them to local organizations like ours, providing fresh, in-season food to people in need. Other recipients include Southside Kitchen, Loving Food Resources, Western Carolina Rescue Mission, and Youth Transformed for Life (YTL). This month Grace Covenant is working with YWCA Nutrition Coordinator Melinda Aponte to identify and plant crops that will be used to prepare healthy breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for the children in both of our child care programs. Our Nutrition program is designed not only to nourish the children we care for, but also to introduce them to a variety of fresh, delicious food, fostering a positive, joyful relationship with nutrition. We are so excited about this partnership and can’t wait to start cooking with the bounty that Grace Covenant has to offer.