New Leaf Gives $5K to FoodWhat Youth Group

By Patti Bond

New Leaf Community Markets’ donation of $5,521 to FoodWhat will support their efforts to empower at-risk and low-income county youth by funding youth salaries for their fall program.

FoodWhat, a non-profit program of Life Lab, is a youth empowerment and food justice program using food, through sustainable agriculture and health, as the vehicle for growing strong, healthy and inspired teens from Watsonville to Santa Cruz.  

“FoodWhat is very excited to partner with New Leaf to deliver our fall program this year. New Leaf's mission to nourish and sustain our community is complementary to FoodWhat’s work with local low-income teens where we inspire personal transformation by helping teens to find their voices and develop self-confidence,” said Doron Comerchero, director of FoodWhat.

According to Comerchero, youth participating in FoodWhat experience profound changes in their diet, sense of self, professionalism, leadership skills, and drive. 

The New Leaf donation will support the employment of 15 youth in the FoodWhat fall program. In addition to running small businesses based on the FoodWhat Farm, program participants will host a countywide event for 250 youth on the farm focused on nutrition and food justice, offer gardening support at six school gardens, and roll out a peer-to-peer health, nutrition, and empowerment program to local high school students.

The fall program is one of the seasonal programs of FoodWhat. Youth from throughout the county become part of the FoodWhat crew through spring internships, summer jobs, and fall business management positions. Participants also lead community events on the farm. These activities provide a safe environment for leadership development, personal growth, and job training. 

For more information about “Food, What?!” visitwww.foodwhat.org. For more information about New Leaf Community Markets visit www.newleaf.com.