Courtesy photos.
SANTA MARIA — Nutrition knowledge and essential food help arrived for 150 Santa Maria Joint Union High School District families when the SMJUHSD Multilingual and Migrant Education Program (MMEP) held a Health and Wellness Drive-thru Fair at the Santa Maria High School student parking lot on Saturday, February 20.
MMEP along with community organizations from Mixteco Indigena Community Organization Project (MICOP), Community Health Centers (CHC), Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo (CAPSLO), Center for Employment Training (CET), and the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County offered families free information packets. Organization packets included information on health, dental, rental assistance, healthy food choices, COVID. Families also received hygiene kits, groceries/produce and pan dulce.
The idea was to transform health/wellness through teaching an appreciation of fresh nutritious food and helping families in the district, according to MMEP Administrative Assistant, Maribel Vargas-Meza.
“Our families were very appreciative and excited to receive the information and boxes of food,’’ Vargas-Meza added.
The recipients were SMJUHSD Migrant Education Program families who had current eligibility in the program for the 2020-2021 school year. The Health and Wellness Fair is part of the Migrant Education Program District Service Agreement (DSA) that takes place once a year for migratory families in the SMJUHSD.
“Thank you to the Migrant Program for the free resources, pan dulce, and the box of food as it will help my family a lot during these hard times. We lost our jobs last year and it has been hard to make ends meet. We are grateful for programs like this who always prioritize family’s needs first,’’ said SMHS parent Merced Perez.
