Work It! Taste It!

Our project is called “Work It! Taste It!,” a weekly smoothie blending event held in front of the East Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center. We will be parking our Fender Blender bicycle on the sidewalk in front of the Action Center (or inside the building in inclement weather) and inviting community residents to blend up delicious and healthy smoothies using pedal power! Our SMART Ambassadors will pass out smoothie samples to all who gather around the activity. Our particular fundraising goals are for:

1.     Food and other supplies (cups, aprons, latex gloves) for smoothie-blending.

2.     A composter for recycling the organic refuse generated (banana peels, etc.).

3.     An iPad to aid with outreach and fund-raising.

4.     Advertising costs for outreach material (including signage and postcards with smoothie recipes).

5.     Stipend salaries for our SMART Ambassadors who staff the event.

1. Our first step is to make signage and postcards for the event. We will have a large sandwich board sign in front of the Action Center to call attention to the activity and provide a short description. We will also be handing out post cards with smoothie recipes.

2. As we are anticipating cold weather, we will initially be holding our event in the lobby of the East Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center and will serve hot ginger tea in addition to delicious smoothies. The bulk of our funding will be for the food (fresh fruits, vegetables, coconut milk) used in blending smoothies, as well as for cups, aprons, latex gloves and other supplies. This expense will be ongoing throughout the year.

3. Three of our SMART Ambassadors will be staffing the activity, and a percentage of raised funds will immediately go toward their stipend salaries. 

4. As funding allows, we will purchase an iPad in the early stages of the project to aid us in performing outreach and sharing information about our programs with those who stop by. The iPad will also help us with on-the-spot fundraising.

5. By spring or early summer, we hope to purchase a portable composter to use for recycling the organic refuse our activity will generate. We intend to partner with neighborhood gardens/urban farms in this endeavor.  

SMART is based in East Harlem, a low-income neighborhood of color whose residents suffer from disproportionately high rates of HIV/AIDS, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses. Over many years of engagement with our community, we have honed our focus on nutrition education, both as a means of gathering people together in a warm atmosphere of nurturance and shared food, and as the road we travel to improved health and wellbeing.

“Food as Treatment and Prevention” is the SMART philosophy. We are proud to showcase our “Fender Blender” bicycle as part of our commitment to nutrition and healthy life practices. The Fender Blender provides a unique and fun way to make healthy smoothies using “pedal power,” as well as having tremendous potential for drawing a crowd. To these ends, we are establishing a weekly “Work It! Taste It!” event on the sidewalk in front of the East Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center (or inside the Action Center building in inclement weather) to offer community residents an occasion to exercise and acquire information about nutritious food choices.

Our aim is to put healthy exercise and nutritious eating into practice in people's lives, as well as to raise awareness about eco-friendly activities such as composting, an endeavor we hope to share with neighborhood gardens and urban farms. We will also practice outreach to those for whom we hope to provide other services through our many SMART programs. And lastly, the "Work It! Taste It!" event is an opportunity for our SMART Ambassadors (who staff the activity) to gain work experience and develop confidence in their interactions with others as mentors and leaders in the community.