EFNEP - Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program
Upstate Area Success Stories
Judie Holt,
Nutrition Educator Assistant
Pickens County
While in the produce section one day I saw one of my K-5 students with her mother. I overheard the little girl
ask her mother for fruit. She then added that Ms. Judie said it helps our bodies to be healthy. The
pre-school classes are working.
Nancy Williams,
Volunteer Coordinator II
Spartanburg County
Client 1, a 99-year-old senior member of the Woodruff Congregate Dining Group was asked what she attributed her long life too. She said, "Eating healthy foods and lots of fruits and vegetables, including green, etc."
Client 1 has been following good nutrition rules for many years. Nora Neal, Program Assistant in Spartanburg enrolled her as an EFNEP youth leader to teach food and nutrition to youth in her community. She attended leader training meetings, and then presented programs with food preparation to the youth.
She still plants a small garden and cans vegetables. She is particularly fond of greens.
She never misses a nutrition program that I do at the center and is always responsive during my programs.
JoAnn Brooks,
Nutrition Educator Assistant
Greenville County
Youth 1 attended Teen Parent School and while there, she participated in the LINC program, Changes, Challenges, and Choices. She was an eighteen year old white female, and had graduated from high school.
When her baby was five-months-old, she came back to visit the school and the baby was very healthy. The program director asked "What are you feeding you baby" and she replied, "I am still breast feeding my baby because of the nutrition program that I participated in. It has helped me to make the right decision and choices. I feel good, and I am living a healthy life."
Josephine Alexander,
Nutrition Educator Assistant
Lancaster County
I find that working with EFNEP today is a real challenge to promote good health for our clientele and their families. It requires being resourceful and persistent.
In May of 2003 Homemaker 236 was enrolled after being referred by the Department of Social Services. She was badly in need of nutritional skills to improve her homemaking abilities. She is eager to learn new ways of doing things. She is a single parent with three young children. The most important thing to her is to see her family healthy. She looks forward to my visits and is always home.
I began our lessons with the Food Guide Pyramid, and then we moved on to several other lessons along with food preparation. Some of the lessons were meal planning, sodium, breakfast, and calcium.
As a result of the lessons covered, she has changed her eating habits and the eating habits of her family. She now uses oil instead of solid fat. She also plans meals ahead, and has learned that planning meals can save of food dollars.
Client 236 never finished high school, completing only the ninth grade. With a lot of encouragement, she has informed me that she enrolled in the adult education programs, and plans to get her G.E.D. The EFNEP Program has made a great impact in not only in her life, but the lives of her family.
Jannie Gist, Nutrition Educator Assistant
Union County
Homemaker 124 entered into the EFNEP Program in a strange way. She was not a referred, or even a contact for the EFNEP program. This homemaker had a six-year-old that was then an EFNEP 4-H'er that I worked with once a week in the classroom. At the end of their lessons, and before graduation, we went on a Five-A-Day field trip to Bi-Lo. Homemaker 124's daughter ask her mom to meet us there so she could tour the store with us. When going to the fruit and vegetable section we were allowed to test the kiwi fruit. The daughter told her mom that she had gone on a carpet ride with Chef Combo and had already tasted kiwi. She then ask her mom if she had eaten kiwi before, and her mom replied no and she didn't think it would be a good fruit to taste. After several of the kids telling homemaker 124 that Chef Combo always wants us to try new foods, she agreed to sample the kiwi. She also asked if I ever went into homes and helped adults that have problems in preparing meals for their family.
Homemaker 124 is now enrolled and doing great with preparing healthy and nutrition meals for her family. She is also a volunteer for getting the message across to others about the EFNEP Program. Through this homemaker, there have been referrals that have enrolled in the EFNEP Program.
Rebecca Tinker,
Nutrition Educator Assistant
Chester County
Below is a copy of a letter concerning Ms. Tinker.
Dear Sirs:
We are member of the Senior Center in Great Falls, South Carolina. We have a great center due to our director, Mrs. Laverne Young. We also appreciate all of our volunteers who work hard to serve us good meals.
We always have a full calendar of exciting and inspiring programs. We always looked forward to Monday morning. Ms. Becky Tinker of Chester, South Carolina came to bring us interesting programs on nutrition and to educate us on the positive way to live our lives. Because of her positive attitude, she was able to capture our attention. She taught us about the right foods to eat so we would be healthy. She taught us some more valuable lessons. Some were how to budget our income, check prices when we shopped, but best of all, she encouraged us to take care of ourselves so we could live a long, exciting, and productive life.
We at the Great Falls Center believe she should be recognized for a job "well done". We will miss her for she was one of the highlights of our week. May God always bless her for sharing her love to all people. We will always love her for being our friend. If there is any way possible, we would love to have her back.
This letter was signed by 33 people.