Alameda County Community Food Bank

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Contact: Judyth Collin
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The Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative Receives W.K. Kellogg Funding
—Alameda County Community Food Bank Heads Up Effort—

19 April 2007 -- (Oakland, CA) –– The Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative has received a grant of $495,200 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to participate in an effort to help communities embrace active living and healthy eating. The vision of the Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative, currently comprised of approximately 60 Oakland organizations, is to create fundamental and sustainable environmental changes that will significantly improve the health and wellness of Oakland residents. The Alameda County Community Food Bank, Alameda County Public Health Department and Urban Ecology are lead partners for the Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative, one of nine projects nationwide selected as pilot sites. Each project will work for two years to create a community action plan to support healthy children, youth, and families by promoting access to affordable healthy food, safe spaces, and structures for physical activity.

"This two-year planning grant is a tremendous opportunity for cross-fertilization of ideas and efforts from community based organizations and neighborhood residents," said Suzan Bateson, Executive Director of the Alameda County Community Food Bank. "We look forward to working with all of Oakland to promote and make accessible good health."

"The Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative was chosen to join us in this effort because of its passionate leadership, commitment to the community and for the inroads it has already made in organizing around the issue of healthy communities," says Linda Jo Doctor, Kellogg Foundation program director in Health.

"We know that people across America are concerned about the physical well-being of their children and families," said Gail Imig, Kellogg Foundation program director in Food Systems. "The people of Oakland, CA are taking action. We hope our support will enable them to create more energy, interest, ideas, and involvement. The Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative will be part of a nationwide network of communities that will not only inspire one another, but also ignite and energize other communities across the country."

The Oakland community will be invited to join the two-year planning process to address issues such as bringing fresh food to school cafeterias, making local playgrounds safe and expanding community pathways for walkers and bicyclists, etc. The project expects to begin as early as next month with the hiring of collaborative staff and a deeper engagement of Oakland neighborhood residents.

Other grantees include a variety of rural and urban communities: Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; Holyoke, Massachusetts; New York, New York; six counties in Northeast Iowa; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and Sells, Arizona (specifically, the Tohono O’odham Native American reservation). During the two-year planning process, communities will receive support and technical assistance for communication, policy, and evaluation. Each of the communities will then be eligible for potential implementation funding for up to eight years.