14Free Episode 14 - Burlington Children's Space

In our final episode of 14Free, we visit the Burlington Children's Space, a child care center in the heart of Burlington's North End. At this center we meet Erinn Simon, self-proclaimed "Lunch Lady". Erinn beams when she talks about her job feeding young kids fresh, nutritious meals from their small, homey kitchen. She tells us how integrated the meal program is into the learning at the center. Children learn important social skills by eating family-style, they learn about where food comes from by gardening a plot near their school and visiting the Intervale farms in Burlington where some of their food comes from, and they also learn how to try new foods that they may not have otherwise tried if they weren't doing so along with their peers. Sara Adams-Kolitz is the Director of the center and she explains how the sponsorship program from Child Care Resource helps cut down on the administrative paperwork that can often be a barrier to centers participating in the program that provides reimbursement for meals. This helps free up time for Sarah to do additional fundraising to fund the dynamic, wholesome meal program that Erinn coordinates. We are thrilled to end our 14Free series with this special program. Thank you all for watching our video project that brings you the real-life success stories that are ending hunger and malnutrition in Vermont.