Press Releases
Wean Foundation Targets Nutrition Gap In The Valley
Long-time valley foundation earns $200,000 grant to create innovative food equity program
Contact: Joel Ratner, President, The Raymond John Wean Foundation, 330-394-5600
jratner@rjweanfdn.org
November 18, 2009/ Warren, OH - With one week to go until Thanksgiving, many of us have food on their minds. The community advocates at The Raymond John Wean Foundation in Warren are thinking food, too… but their thoughts have developed into a plan that will affect the way the Valley eats long after the holiday is over.
The Wean Foundation was recently awarded a $200,000 grant to launch a new, healthy foods access program: the Mahoning Valley Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance. The alliance will serve both Warren and Youngstown.
The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership supplied the grant. The Wean Foundation will supply matching funds from its endowment.
“For many Mahoning Valley residents, good health is simply beyond their reach”, explains Wean Foundation president Joel Ratner. “ People without means, living in the cities, don’t have access to full-service grocery stores. Too often they have to get their groceries at corner stores, which stock more alcohol than fresh vegetables. The foundation wants to use these funds to make healthy eating choices accessible to everyone.”
Over the last two years, The Wean Foundation has provided significant financial support to nutrition programs for underserved neighborhoods; such as farmers markets and community gardens. Ratner says the Mahoning Valley Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance will expand on those efforts by providing leadership and grassroots organization centered on all aspects of healthy foods accessibility.
“ We’re going to reach out and actively support a local food policy council”, Ratner says. “ That group will examine the existing food network available in our urban centers and recommend positive changes.
Changes may include more community gardens or hike and bike trails to encourage healthy lifestyles. Or, perhaps, supporting local farmers and small grocers who make fresh produce available within the city limits. Maybe the group will push for legislative action in the cities to make access to healthy foods more equitable. Whatever the specifics, the Mahoning Valley Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance will constantly be driving toward creating a community where economically-challenged parents never have to forsake good nutritional choices for their children.”
The Alliance’s work begins immediately. The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership grant runs for two years.
The Raymond John Wean Foundation was founded in 1949 by Warren, Ohio industrialist Raymond John Wean. Over the past 60 years, the Wean Foundation has provided more than $90 million in grants to a variety of nonprofit organizations. Always evolving to better serve the needs of the Mahoning Valley, the foundation’s current mission is to enhance community well-being and vitality through grantmaking, convening, advocating and providing leadership with a focus on economically disadvantaged people and neighborhoods.
You can learn more about the foundation by visiting www.rjweanfdn.org .
The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership is a collaboration of funders who have come together with the shared goal of changing policies and environments to better achieve the vision of healthy people living in healthy places. You can learn more about the Partnership by visiting www.convergencepartnership.org .
Journalists wishing assistance in reporting on this story, or scheduling an interview with Mr. Ratner, may contact Vince Bevacqua, VP, Media & Public Relations, The Prodigal Company. 330-707-2088 vbevacqua@prodigalmedia.com .
