CHA increases healthy food access through daycare take-home meal program | Local News
The Walmart Foundation is providing funding for the GoGo Bags program.
KANNAPOLIS — Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA), Cabarrus County’s public health authority, has launched a healthy, affordable take-home meals program at three local daycare centers through a grant from the Walmart Foundation.
Busy, working parents face decision-fatigue at the end of the day and can lack the energy to think through healthy meal planning and preparation; instead, they may resort to cheap and convenient options like fast food. With funding from the Walmart Foundation, CHA, in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), and Meals on Wheels (MOW), aims to improve access to easier and healthier food choices through this innovative pilot program.
Parents with young children enrolled at Dixon Academy, Concord Academy and McKnight Child Development Center now have the opportunity to purchase healthy, family-sized dinners at their daycare sites. When parents come to pick up their child at the end of the day, they are able to take the dinner home for their family to eat.
“Access to healthy food builds the foundation for good health in communities,” said Eileen Hyde, senior director for Walmart.org. “Our goal is to improve people’s ability to more consistently consume nutritious food. That involves connecting people to the food they need as well as building confidence in their choices. This pilot is using innovation and education to improve the health of the community, and we’re proud to support it.”
