Goshen Health collaborates to bring the Summer Cultivate Backpacks Program back

Each summer, Goshen Health partners with Cultivate Food Rescue and Goshen Community Schools to ensure hundreds of food-insecure children in Goshen receive well-balanced, healthy meals.

Throughout June, students can pick up a backpack containing six nutritionally-balanced frozen meals each Friday at designated sites in Goshen. These six meals include two breakfasts, two lunches, and two dinners.

“We work closely with Goshen Community Schools and Cultivate Food Rescue to provide these frozen meals at three park sites,” said Katie Tipton, Community Engagement Coordinator for Goshen Health. “Cultivate Food Rescue volunteers pass out the meals at the sites. I help coordinate the entire process.”

The three Goshen park sites include Pringle Park, Hay Park, and Shanklin Park. Backpacks were handed out on June 5, 12, 19, and 26.

“50 backpacks are allotted at each park each week and are given on a first come, first served basis,” said Tipton. “This means a total of 150 backpacks are distributed weekly across the three parks, which equates to 600 backpacks distributed in total during the month of June.”

Each breakfast contains a carb, a protein, and a fruit. Each lunch and each dinner contains a protein, a starch, and a vegetable. Vegetables are fresh or frozen.

“Meals can be easily microwaved,” said Tipton. “This makes the meals easy to prepare, which is especially important should a child’s parent be away at work for the day and the child needs to prepare their own meals.”

This program is one of many community health initiatives in which Goshen Health participates.

“The mission of Goshen Health is to improve the health of our community,” said Tipton. “The initiatives that support this mission are diverse and wide-ranging.”

For example, Goshen Health also offers fun, interactive nutrition education activities at select summer feeding sites through a program called Summer Health Lunch Bunch for students in Elkhart and Kosciusko counties. Summer Health Lunch Bunch provides free activities and giveaways to students receiving free lunch from the local school districts.

“Through the Cultivate Food Rescue meals and Summer Health Lunch Bunch, we’re meeting needs in our community,” said Tipton. “There’s a lot of data that points to a need for access to healthy food and a need for health education.”

The giving nature of these programs brings together many positive people, including those at Goshen Health, focused on elevating the lives of the youngest in the area by facilitating access to a healthy lifestyle.

“I really enjoy working with so many people and organizations who want to do good for the community and have a common passion,” said Tipton. “I’m honored to work for the mission of Goshen Health.”

To learn more about Cultivate Backpacks, including information on picking up a backpack with meals, visit its website here. For additional information on Goshen Health, visit goshenhealth.com.