Feeding our families

Feeding Our Families Mission Statement a program by Jared’s Keepers Foundation, Inc

Our mission is to empower youth with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to prepare healthy and nutritious meals for themselves and their families. Through education, hands-on experiences, and community engagement, we strive to foster lifelong habits of mindful eating, promote wellness, and build self-sufficiency, ensuring a healthier future for individuals and their communities.  

Feeding Our Families is a comprehensive program of Jared’s Keepers Foundation, Inc developed out of the data found in the Waverly District Community Leadership Team grant project 2021-2024. 

Science has shown that proper nutrition plays a large part in our mental well-being. The pandemic exposed our vulnerabilities with our domestic skills as well as availability to nutritional foods. In 2023, a coalition began to bridge the gap in these issues as well as being able to augment the offerings of the school district.

Feeding Our Families began pulling in strategic partnerships with Central Illinois Food Bank and obtaining a cooking cart, Jared’s Keepers Foundation who has secured funding, University of Illinois Extension Offices who offers a nutritionist and educational classes to enhance our program, Waverly School District, Carlinville Area Hospital, and many local grocers and farmers.

The weekly program shows students and families how to plan, prepare, serve, and store healthy nutritional meals. At the end of the night, families are sent home with the exact ingredients that were used to prepare the meal of the evening to reproduce the meal for their family later that week. Families will learn the national origin of the meals produced as they travel the world through their food. Families are exposed to educational skills in Math, Science, English, Reading, SEL, Foreign Languages, Geography and more during this program. 

Additionally, a garden was constructed that will utilize area students and families to assist in starting seeds, planting the garden, caring for the garden, and utilizing the produce from the garden in the weekly meal program. Families are also taught how to freeze, store, and can garden produce for long and short-term storage. Families are exposed to educational skills in Science, Reading, SEL, Building & Construction and more during this program.