Vote for The Health Trust in Google’s Bay Area Impact Challenge!

| Staff Blog.

We’re thrilled to announce that The Health Trust has been selected by Google as one of the top ten finalists in their Bay Area Impact Challenge.  The aim of the challenge is to fuel innovation to support our communities and The Health Trust’s plan to increase fresh food access has been chosen to compete among ten finalists for a $500,000 grant, support from Google, and access to co-working space to turn our idea into a reality. But we won’t win without your help!

Vote to increase fresh food access for low-income families in Silicon Valley and please re-tweet the message below on Twitter to spread the word!


Scroll to the bottom of this post for more social media resources.

Silicon Valley is the innovation capitol of the world yet the most human challenges remain unsolved. The San Jose Mercury News recently said “It’s a shame that in the midst of all the wealth in this valley we still have thousands of residents who lack the most basic health and nutrition resources.”  As Californians are more concerned than ever before with the epidemic scale of obesity and diabetes in our communities, residents of cities like San Jose can only find healthy options in 15 percent of food retailers.

That’s why The Health Trust is asking for your support to make healthy food accessible to all in the Silicon Valley.

Google created their Bay Area Impact Challenge in search of the most innovative ideas for making our communities an even better place to live. The Health Trust has been chosen as one of the Challenge finalists for our inventive approaches to make affordable, quality, nutritious food accessible in low-income neighborhoods:

  • Bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to public areas in residential neighborhoods of San Jose through a mobile produce vendor program. The program provides entrepreneurial opportunities to neighborhood residents, who will operate their own carts, while increasing access to healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods
  • Promoting fresh produce and other healthy items within small markets and convenience stores by providing equipment and technical assistance to their owners.
  • Increasing the availability of farmers’ markets by establishing small, certified markets on private property through training and technical assistance to community organizations.
  • Other approaches such as placing salad bars into schools, edible gardens throughout community sites and nutrition education through AmeriCorps members.

A panel of advisors — Honorable Aida Alvarez, Secretary Norman Mineta, Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed, Reverend Cecil Williams and Major League Baseball player Barry Zito — helped review the submissions to identify 10 fantastic finalists we are honored to be among.  As a finalist, we will receive $250,000 from Google to make our fresh food access project a reality.  With your support, we can increase our grant funding to $500,000.

The public voting window is open from May 22 to June 2. Cast your vote for 4 projects at http://goo.gl/AJZAZG and spread the word!

Resources:

Please use the following resources to help us spread the word and encourage votes for The Health Trust in the Google Bay Area Impact Challenge. Copy and paste the text into your social media post and upload the corresponding image. Click on each image and then save onto your computer first.

Twitter

  • Vote for the @healthtrust in the #GoogleImpactChallenge to increase fresh food access! http://goo.gl/AJZAZG http://youtu.be/xlbhXEJmaCU
  • Want more fresh food in underserved neighborhoods? Vote in the #GoogleImpactChallenge http://goo.gl/AJZAZG http://youtu.be/xlbhXEJmaCU
  • Vote @HealthTrust for $500K to go to fresh food access in the Bay Area #GoogleImpactChallenge http://goo.gl/AJZAZG youtu.be/xlbhXEJmaCU
  • How can you eat healthy without access? Vote @HealthTrust in the #GoogleImpactChallenge http://goo.gl/AJZAZG  http://youtu.be/xlbhXEJmaCU

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD IMAGE FOR TWITTER
impactchallenge_healthtrust_tw_general

Facebook

  • Vote for The Health Trust in the Google Bay Area Impact Challenge to increase fresh food access!  The Health Trust has been chosen as one of the top ten finalists for our plan to create new distribution channels for affordable produce. This program expands street vendors, corner stores, and farmers’ markets for underserved areas. Over two years, The Health Trust will distribute 50,000 pounds of produce to 10,000 low-income residents in Santa Clara County! http://goo.gl/AJZAZG

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD IMAGE FOR FACEBOOK
impactchallenge_healthtrust_fb_general

YouTube

  • Our YouTube video is located at http://youtu.be/xlbhXEJmaCU
  • You can embed the video onto your website by following the link to the video, clicking on “Share” and then click on “Embed” to access the code needed to be pasted into your website.