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<\/p>\nIn February, Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s Hospital launched a school-based food pantry at Gibbs High school in Pinellas County Florida.\u00a0 The student-run Gibbs Grubb Hubb, as it is now known, was an immediate success and has already become a fixture at the school.\u00a0 In the three months since its opening, the Grubb Hubb has distributed 755 bags of food, providing meals for 2,651 people including 1,111 students and children.\u00a0So what is the key to the Grubb Hubb\u2019s success? The students.<\/p>\n
Janelle Garcia, government and community affairs clinical integration manager at\u00a0Johns Hopkins All Children’s\u00a0Hospital, explains the strategy.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I begin working with a school on any new health initiative, I immediately involve the students so they feel ownership over the project. I believe this simple strategy is the reason the high school-based food pantries have been so successful.\u201d She adds, \u201cStudents not only name the pantry, but they also stock shelves, clean, and serve as our main marketing and recruiting source bringing other students in for food. I believe this has helped tremendously in decreasing the stigma around receiving food assistance and creates a sense of community within the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Grubb Hubb is also creating connections across the school and district.\u00a0 Produce grown in the school garden goes directly into each week\u2019s distribution through a partnership with the Gladiators Growing for Good program. Program participants receive employment and independent living training while harvesting hundreds of pounds of fresh greens, potatoes, eggplants, watermelons, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, parsley, dill, and chives, and all of it goes directly to the Grubb Hubb.\u00a0 Lakewood High Center for Advanced Technologies students are also working to digitalize the pantry check-in process and inventory control system with the goal of going live in August 2021.<\/p>\n
The Gibbs Grubb Hubb is only just getting started.\u00a0 Monthly distributions will occur this summer, and the students running the Grubb Hubb are already looking forward to being a resource for even more students and families in the next school year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In February, Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s Hospital launched a school-based food pantry at Gibbs High school in Pinellas County Florida.\u00a0 The student-run Gibbs Grubb Hubb, as it is now known,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n