MARTINSBURG In an effort to promote healthy living and ensure families in the area have fresh fruits and vegetables during the summer months, Healthy Berkeley, through funding from the Healthy People Healthy Places Inaugural Gold Award, has been providing locally grown produce to Boys and Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle.

According to a release shared this week, the Division of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease within the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health, recognized seven communities with the new Healthy People Healthy Places designation, a testament to the collective efforts of several organizations working together to create a healthy culture and environment for the local community.

Of those communities, Martinsburg was chosen to receive the gold-level for the collaborative efforts being done by Healthy Berkeley, a community collaborative led by WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center and various community organizations, including Main Street Martinsburg, Berkeley County Health Department and Berkeley County Schools.

We are appreciative to the WVDHHR Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention for the funding and opportunity to support a local business and provide healthy options for meals for families of the Boys and Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle, Dana DeJarnett, health promotion coordinator for the wellness center at the Berkeley Medical Center, said. We are so excited to see how creative the Boys and Girls Club has gotten with making new recipes and giving out recipe books and extra produce for families to make for themselves. This program helps us continue our mission of highlighting ways to be healthy with resources we have in our community.

To further the efforts of creating a healthy environment and culture, designated Healthy People Healthy Places communities received funding to distribute fruits and vegetables in their community, and Healthy Berkeley chose the Boys and Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle to be the recipient of this funding, the release said.

Any time we can partner with another agency to provide healthy food options for our children, it is a blessing, Stacie Rohn, executive director of the boys and girls club, said. We are fortunate to have great community partners like Healthy Berkeley to provide more than we could alone. It truly does take a village to provide for those in need.

The funding allows for locally grown plums, peaches, grape tomatoes, watermelon, corn, peppers, strawberries, green beans, cantaloupe, cucumbers and squash from Orrs Farm Market to be distributed to the kids for 10 weeks, the release said.

According to the release, each Monday, families pick up five meals and snacks for each child in their family from the club locations in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties. Of those meals, one fruit and one vegetable is funded through the Healthy People Healthy Places award.

Physical activity information, recipes and Farmers Market SNAP Stretch/Double SNAP program information has also been included in the meal packs. According to the release, Healthy Berkeleys hope is by distributing this information with the fruits and vegetables, it will encourage families to be more physically active and include more fruits and vegetables in their meal planning.

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Healthy Berkeley provides sweet support to Boys and Girls Club - Martinsburg Journal