New Albany VCAH is creating a healthy community

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An annual event organized by New Albany’s Village Coalition Against Hunger (VCAH) and the New Albany Middle School art department aims to raise awareness about food insecurity one bowl of soup at a time.

Part of the Empty Bowls Project, an international grassroots initiative that organizes fundraising and educational opportunities to aid in the fight against hunger, New Albany’s Empty Bowls dinners invite community members to come together and learn how this issue hits close to home.

“Families just come in and purchase a bowl, or bring their bowls and have a simple meal of soup and bread, just to remember there are as many empty bowls as people who are struggling and fighting food insecurity,” says Angela Douglas, director of VCAH. “People don’t realize that there are hunger needs in this community, that there are families that are food insecure in this community.”

This year’s event, which was held April 20, featured food donated by local restaurants and volunteers, as well as bowls decorated by students at NAMS.

“The kids get so engaged because you can physically make your bowl, then paint it and then you can eat out of it and keep it, so it is a really cool concept,” Douglas says.

The funds go to VCAH, which runs the local food pantry and hosts other community outreach events, such as its annual 5K/10K run and walk. In March, VCAH partnered with Souper Heroes, a group that organizes events throughout Columbus that are catered by teams of volunteer soup makers, for a Souper Supper at the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany.

VCAH was able to raise $1,000 in donations from that event, Douglas says.

In addition to community gatherings and fundraisers, Douglas says, VCAH also strives to provide a variety of resources year-round to the clients that it serves. In the past, VCAH hosted cooking classes at the Heit Center, and now it is working to create weekly recipe cards that families can pick up when they visit the food pantry. VCAH also works with local schools to offer a snack program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Douglas, a New Albany resident, says the community’s generosity and support allows VCAH to look toward future goals, such as starting a summer lunch and weekend meals program.

“There is a very strong spirit (in New Albany),” she says. “When people know that there is this need, they are certainly willing to do whatever they can to support and encourage the health of the community in total.”

For more information about VCAH, visit www.villagecoalition.org.

Amanda Etchison is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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