Nourish NC
& Katelyn Mattox
Katelyn has been the Nourish NC program director for over 3 years & is fighting to make sure no child in New Hanover County goes hungry.
Ever.
Katelyn moved to Wilmington from Asheville with a degree in social work. She knew she wanted to work for a non-profit and took time off when she got to Wilmington to figure out which one was the best fit for her. Nourish stood out in a way that none of the other non-profits did because of their customer-first approach toward the people they serve.
No paperwork? No problem.
Client experience is everything! From volunteers to the children of families, the Nourish NC warehouse is welcoming, fun, and full of delicious foods!
Nourish NC has changed and evolved a lot over the years. In recent times, their ability to adapt with agility to an ever-changing world means more and more children are fed.
13 years ago, Nourish NC’s Backpack Program was the main focus. Now, they’re up to 5 major programs and are expanding to a brand new building that is centrally located, has way more storage, and will eventually become a kind of supermarket to those children and their families.
Katelyn’s goal is simple:
A world in which no child is hungry and they’ve finally worked themselves out of a job.
BUT until that happens, here’s how Nourish NC is keeping kids in New Hanover County fed and healthy….
Backpack Program
Teachers, counselors, and volunteer parents all began noticing a large decline in behavior and focus, particularly on Mondays. Eventually, they realized that these kids were hungry! 13 years ago, Nourish NC started bringing bags of food to schools on Fridays and slipping the food-filled, nutritionist-approved, travel-friendly food into kids’ backpacks so they could have food over the weekend.
Nourish ships 650+ bags a week to 26 different schools
While this worked great for elementary school kids, those in middle and high school started to get embarrassed about the weekly bags of food. So Nourish took on a more mature approach for these older kids with a single box, once a month that was equivalent to 4 weekends worth of food.
Because these boxes could travel more safely than in a 3rd graders’ backpack, the boxes have a wider variety of items, such as loaves of bread, cartons of eggs, and frozen proteins.
2. Pantry Pals
The goal of Pantry Pals was to extend beyond just kids in school and get the word out to the communities, attend events, and help those in need to feel more food secure. Pantry Pals sets up stands at local community centers, schools, and other non-profits with emergency food stores and pre-packaged snack packs!
3. Farmers MarKids
Just mix 1 part fresh food, 1 part education, 1 part fun and you have the MarKID!
Kids are given ‘Nourish Bucks’ which they ‘spend’ at a farmer's market-style stands, featuring mostly fruits and vegetables.
Not only can they ‘purchase’ individual items, but they can also purchase an entire recipes’ worth of supplies and learn to prepare even healthier dishes.
4. Food Farmacy
In 1902, Thomas Edison predicted that
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.”
Nourish NC is trying to do just that! Nourish partners with Nunnellee Pediatrics to ask more questions upon intake from their child patients. Some leave with ‘prescriptions’ which give them 15-20 pounds of fresh produce, lean meats, eggs, and wheat bread which can be picked up at Nourish NC. Along with information on further food assistance.
5. Toddler Tummies
While feeding kids in school is amazing and admirable…what about kids who aren’t old enough?
Nourish has them covered, too!
Their Toddler Tummies program extends a helping hand to be “anywhere and everywhere” children need us in New Hanover County. In order to reach this younger demographic, Nourish NC partners with other nonprofits and community agencies that are already serving children ages 1-4 who have been exposed to, or are experiencing: poverty, violence, depression, Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs), developmental delays, homelessness, anger issues, incarcerated parent(s), etc.
Want to know more? Visit their website here.
There are lots of different ways to get involved at Nourish NC and they are always looking for helping hands!
As always, SWELL home & living is proud to have people like Katelyn and all those working at Nourish NC as a part of our Wilmington community. This is why Nourish is one of our non-profit partners. We donate a portion of our commission from every home sold to the donation partner of our client’s choice and love it when they choose Nourish NC.
Donate today or sign up to volunteer here.
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