NEW ORLEANS – Second Harvest Food Bank and Morgan Stanley announced they will expand produce deliveries and health screenings directly to students and their families through local schools as part of Healthy Cities New Orleans, a series of philanthropic programs designed to fuel innovation in coordinating the wellness, nutrition and play resources to give children a healthy start to life.
As part of Healthy Cities New Orleans, which launched in May, more than 200 Morgan Stanley and community volunteers built a new playground at Lake Forest Charter School in partnership with KaBOOM.
On Thursday, September 15, 2016, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., ReNEW Accelerated High School, 3649 Laurel St., in New Orleans, will become the first of four School Pantry programs where Second Harvest Food Bank will integrate free, nutritious groceries with other health programs for students and families.
Using the Healthy Cities model of creating hubs for essential health programming, Second Harvest will work with local and national nonprofit partners to provide health and wellness screenings for both children and adults, nutrition education and fitness activities each month. Second Harvest will also help connect families to important community resources such as nearby food pantries and SNAP application assistance.
“The Healthy Cities program in schools is an innovative way to reach children and families with free healthy food, health and wellness programs, and community resources at times that are convenient for working parents,” said Natalie Jayroe, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. “This important partnership with Morgan Stanley, and the comprehensive approach of the Healthy Cities program, will have a positive and lasting impact on the health and lives of approximately 1,000 children and their families.”
In addition to ReNew Accelerated High School, other participating school sites include:
• Warren Easton Charter High School
• Dr. King Charter High School
• ReNEW Dolores T. Aaron Academy (K-8)
Beyond these school-based programs, Healthy Cities New Orleans will offer community food distributions and health and wellness programs in conjunction with popular community events aimed at assisting low-income families throughout the year.
“We are proud to partner with Second Harvest Food Bank to enhance and expand health, wellness and nutrition for children and their families,” said Andy Black, New Orleans Complex Manager. “The Healthy Cities model has had great success in cities around the globe and we are excited to bring this proven program to local schools in New Orleans.”
Together, Second Harvest Food Bank and Morgan Stanley will deliver more than 600,000 healthy meals, nutrition education programs for 1,000 children, 1,800 health screenings and 1,000 safe play spaces and fitness activities to create a healthy New Orleans for children and families, organizers said. Morgan Stanley employees will play an integral role in the implementation of the Healthy Cities New Orleans program through nearly 2,000 hours of volunteer service, Morgan Stanley reps said.
New Orleans is Morgan Stanley’s eighth Healthy Cities location. Over the past three years, Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities has worked to deliver integrated health, nutrition and play programming to children in need and their families in cities around the world including Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Houston, TX; London, UK; Mumbai, India; Newark, NJ; and Oakland, CA.
Click here for more information about the Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities program.
Click here for more information about Second Harvest Food Bank.
