Dairy Council of California, a leader in nutrition education and advocacy, has awarded a $5,000 community grant to the City of Rancho Cucamonga, Healthy RC initiative.  Funding the Empowering Healthy Choices: Cooking with Rancho Cucamonga Teens project will engage youth leaders to increase opportunities for local students to learn about healthy eating and build skills to prepare nutritious and culturally inclusive meals. 

“Seeing the excitement of the teens’ faces as they tried the delicious recipes we made was rewarding. These healthy cooking skills are vital in supporting their well-being and will inspire them for the future and beyond,” states Joanna Marrufo, youth advisor for the City of Rancho Cucamonga Health Equity Nutrition Research Youth Empowerment Program.

Community grants advance the activation of Dairy Council of California’s Let’s Eat Healthy initiative, engaging Let’s Eat Healthy champions to support equitable access to science-based nutrition education, as well as food and agricultural literacy that encompasses the role of dairy in sustainable food systems. Funds also help make healthy, wholesome foods, including milk and dairy foods, more accessible for local California communities. 

Dairy Council of California CEO Amy DeLisio explains further: “The $5,000 Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grant is an impactful tool for the City of Rancho Cucamonga, Healthy RC initiative to engage with youth in the community. Supporting youth leadership and engagement are vital to solving nutrition and health problems locally and globally.  This grant supports lived culinary experiences that are valuable in providing opportunities where children, families and communities can build positive and culturally diverse connections in support of lifelong health.”

This year, the Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grant program has awarded a total of $20,000 to Let’s Eat Healthy partners to assist California school districts and community organizations to facilitate innovative and sustainable solutions to foster healthy eating through a myriad of strategies and partnerships to meet their local communities’ needs. 

About the Let’s Eat Healthy Initiative 

Launched by Dairy Council of California, Let’s Eat Healthy is an initiative that brings together community leaders and stakeholders with expertise in education, school foodservice, public health, health care and agriculture, inviting these change-makers to elevate the health of children and families through the pursuit of lifelong healthy eating habits. Through coordination and collaboration, Let’s Eat Healthy strives to provide sustainable solutions to champion community health and make healthy, wholesome foods accessible to all. The Let’s Eat Healthy initiative is driven to provide dynamic educational resources and tools, peer networking, amplification of best practices and the latest in nutrition information, uniting individuals and organizations through shared values. Join the initiative and make a difference at HealthyEating.org.