University of Maryland Extension
ALLEGANY COUNTY UME November
by Lisa McCoy, WMD FCS Healthy Living Educator
During the holiday season, many of us struggle to find balance and peace in our busy lives. Life can be exhausting between the extra holidays, gift shopping and wrapping, cleaning, and planning our holiday get-togethers, and we feel STRESSED! Read some tips below from Lisa McCoy, Extension Educator, on how to take care of yourself and manage your stress.
Allegany County SNAP-ED Educator Mandy Hawkins presented to parents at the new Frostburg Head Start location on Thursday, November 21st. The Frostburg Child Development Center opened with a ribbon cutting on September 20, 2024, and is located on Water St., next to the Frostburg Community Pool and Park. The center houses the Frostburg Branch of Head Start, Early Head Start, and the City of Frostburg Summer Day Camp program. SNAP-ED has had a long-standing collaboration with all of these programs in Allegany County. All six Head Start locations across the county currently utilize the Edible ABC's curriculum, which connects alphabet letters with healthy foods and physical activity.
The November 21st Head Start Parent Event was well attended and included a lesson for parents from our newest curriculum for the preschool age group, Raising Food Explorers. This is our latest curriculum for educators to employ in their early childhood and elementary classroom work. Parents were led through discussions and activities addressing raising healthy eaters and being good role models to their children. The children and parents were treated to an Apple Pie Smoothie tasting made with frozen apples and sweet potatoes!
Our Allegany County UME FCS Educator, Jesse Ketterman, visited local college students this past fall to discuss career choices, student loans, and budgeting. The student loan debt is currently about 1.75 trillion dollars. Current research shows that 65% of students who borrowed money have more debt than expected, and 68% are less confident they can pay off their debt.
The Western Maryland Food Council held its third Our Food, Our Future Conference on Friday, November 15th. The theme was "Buying Local Helps All." The conference was held in three locations: Garrett College, Allegany College of Maryland, and the Washington County Extension Office, and it was also held online through Zoom. Nearly 60 participants attended the conference.
The conference speakers who focused on local foods included Joni Brode with the UPMC Western Maryland Health System, speaking about the Food Pharmacy Program; Emily Bauer with the Maryland Department of Human Services, explaining the Restaurant Meals Program for SNAP recipients; Clint Rawlings, Executive Director of America's Hauling for Hope presenting on his local home delivery program; Pam Detrick, Director of Dining Services at Frostburg State University with Chartwells Higher Education talked about local food purchasing in higher education; Walt Ranalli, co-owner of Sirianni's Pizza Cafe in Davis, WV described purchasing local foods for a restaurant; and Heather Hulsey, with the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, presented about the Maryland Market Money Program, which provides matching funds for local produce for certain qualifying recipients.
After each morning and afternoon session, participants had a chance to discuss the programs and possibilities for improving the food system among participants from their county. Participants also had access to an online tool called Padlet to share their thoughts. The day's program concluded with a summary of possible action steps for each county. If anyone wishes to view the Padlet, which will be open for a couple of weeks to gather additional comments, you can do so at https://padlet.com/wlantz1/2024-wmfc-food-conference-buying-local-helps-all-jmj3ew6xksrlt7dc. For more information about the Western Maryland Food Council, go to https://www.wmdfoodcouncil.com/.
The next Allegany County WMFC Workgroup meeting will be held remotely on January 22 at 1:00 pm. Email Theresa Stahl at theresa.stahl@maryland.gov if you would like to be added to the mailing list for the link. The next full council meeting will be held remotely on February 13 at 4:30. Email Willie Lantz at wlantz@umd.edu to be added to the mailing list to receive the link. Links will also be available on the WMFC website closer to the date.
