{"id":12760,"date":"2024-03-14T16:50:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T16:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/?p=12760"},"modified":"2024-03-14T16:50:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T16:50:46","slug":"nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/","title":{"rendered":"Nourishing Our Future: Hunger Hero Jenny Welch"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

For nine years, Jenny Welch has played a pivotal role in her community as the Food Service Supervisor in Avoyelles Parish. A registered dietitian, Jenny started her career in a hospital before moving to child nutrition, where her resilience and determination to feed kids have fueled her through times of crisis and inspired her to innovate and find new ways to reach as many families as possible.<\/p>

Jenny and her husband were both born and raised in Cotton Board, a small Avoyelles Parish town rich in Louisiana culture – loving food, friends, family, and having a good time. Across her community, Jenny sees these values in her work every day. Jenny\u2019s schools operate under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), offering no-cost meals to all students. In this tight-knit, low-income community, these meals are essential for children to thrive. Often, school meals are their only consistent source of nutrition. Jenny\u2019s community members know this and have worked hard to support school meals – sharing information on social media, volunteering at pandemic-era feeding sites, and even bringing boxes of donuts or cracklins to thank food service workers.<\/p>

Last summer, Jenny faced a new challenge: providing summer rural non-congregate meals. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Jenny and her team had to quickly adapt to feeding children in a completely new way. Although they didn’t have a plan, Jenny and her team knew they had to step up and help anyway – their students depended on them. Food service staff, maintenance staff, and community volunteers pitched in, delivering meals across the region and ensuring their students were fed throughout the crisis.<\/p>

Jenny and her team used their pandemic experience last summer to successfully provide summer rural non-congregate meals. They served 7,000 boxes of food per week – an increase from the pandemic’s peak when they served 5,000 boxes of food per week. Families appreciated the program’s reliability and knew that their children would receive high-quality food even with rising food costs.<\/p>

Jenny understands that providing rural, non-congregate meals can be a major undertaking. Still, she encourages operators to work together and share ideas, challenges, and success stories. As the current President of the School Nutrition Association of Louisiana (SNAL), Jenny encourages members to use it as a space for collaboration and support.<\/p>

If Jenny could share one message with all Louisiana FNS Directors, it would be to emphasize the vital role of school meal programs. Coming from a small parish with a high food insecurity rate, Jenny knows the daily need for food many of the kids and families she serves have. But when her students walk in each morning, they know they will receive a hot breakfast and lunch, which allows them to focus on learning and playing. With summer meals and school year supper programs, Jenny\u2019s students have access to nutritious meals outside of the school days. Jenny’s work reminds us that we can make a difference, one meal at a time.<\/p>

We applaud Jenny and her team of hunger heroes for their amazing work and for ensuring that no child in Avoyelles Parish goes hungry. We hope you will join Jenny in providing summer non-congregant meals this summer, and we look forward to hearing and possibly sharing your stories this summer!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For nine years, Jenny Welch has played a pivotal role in her community as the Food Service Supervisor in Avoyelles Parish. A registered dietitian, Jenny started her career in a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12760","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNourishing Our Future: Hunger Hero Jenny Welch - LOUISIANA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nourishing Our Future: Hunger Hero Jenny Welch - LOUISIANA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For nine years, Jenny Welch has played a pivotal role in her community as the Food Service Supervisor in Avoyelles Parish. A registered dietitian, Jenny started her career in a...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LOUISIANA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-14T16:50:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/03\/IMG_4811-768x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fee Pelz-Sharpe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fee Pelz-Sharpe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/\",\"name\":\"Nourishing Our Future: Hunger Hero Jenny Welch - LOUISIANA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-14T16:50:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-14T16:50:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#\/schema\/person\/644ba7c798aa584f05d285c4d74ecdcd\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/\",\"name\":\"LOUISIANA\",\"description\":\"Ending Child Hunger in Louisiana\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#\/schema\/person\/644ba7c798aa584f05d285c4d74ecdcd\",\"name\":\"Fee Pelz-Sharpe\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87c5e6ec3d360972ebd362742bf9579b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87c5e6ec3d360972ebd362742bf9579b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fee Pelz-Sharpe\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/author\/fpelzsharpe\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nourishing Our Future: Hunger Hero Jenny Welch - LOUISIANA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nourishing Our Future: Hunger Hero Jenny Welch - LOUISIANA","og_description":"For nine years, Jenny Welch has played a pivotal role in her community as the Food Service Supervisor in Avoyelles Parish. A registered dietitian, Jenny started her career in a...","og_url":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/","og_site_name":"LOUISIANA","article_published_time":"2024-03-14T16:50:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/03\/IMG_4811-768x1024.jpg"}],"author":"Fee Pelz-Sharpe","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fee Pelz-Sharpe","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/","url":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/","name":"Nourishing Our Future: Hunger Hero Jenny Welch - LOUISIANA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-03-14T16:50:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-14T16:50:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#\/schema\/person\/644ba7c798aa584f05d285c4d74ecdcd"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/2024\/03\/14\/nourishing-our-future-hunger-hero-jenny-welch\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/","name":"LOUISIANA","description":"Ending Child Hunger in Louisiana","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#\/schema\/person\/644ba7c798aa584f05d285c4d74ecdcd","name":"Fee Pelz-Sharpe","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/louisiana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87c5e6ec3d360972ebd362742bf9579b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87c5e6ec3d360972ebd362742bf9579b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fee Pelz-Sharpe"},"url":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/author\/fpelzsharpe\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/louisiana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}