ATLANTA – As part of National Nutrition Month, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm hosted an event empowering youth to become Jr. Chefs at William Walker Recreation Center on Thursday, March 24. The event taught youth about healthy eating, the origin of food and family. As part of the activity, youth in attendance also heard from Hawks second-year forward-center Onyeka Okongwu.
Joe Schafer, the Hawks and State Farm Arena’s Sr. Executive Chef, prepped the food and spoke to students about the importance of proper nutrition and choosing recipes with healthy ingredients. Under Chef Joe’s tenure, State Farm Arena and the Atlanta Hawks received the top score for food and beverage for the NBA’s 2018-19 Fan Loyalty Tracker Program.
“It was great being a part of our Jr. Chef Program with State Farm for National Nutrition Month,” said Schafer. “Through these efforts, we aspire to continue to educate youth on making healthy decisions that will impact themselves, their families and the Atlanta community.”
On site, youth learned about different countries, created three dishes that represent those countries, enjoyed them for dinner and walked away with recipes to encourage healthy choices when eating.
“At State Farm, being a “good neighbor” isn’t just a slogan; it’s at the core of what we do and who we are. And we believe that being a ‘good neighbor’ means investing in our communities,” said Tanya James, Manager-Public Affairs. “We’re excited to once again partner with the Atlanta Hawks to host the Junior Chef Program during National Nutrition Month to support education on healthy food choices.”
The Hawks and State Farm have led efforts in multiple community-focused initiatives to better serve Metro Atlanta. In addition to efforts to fight food insecurity locally, the Hawks and State Farm have now teamed up to open seven Good Neighbor Clubs in locations such as: William Walker Recreation Center in Atlanta, Lucky Shoals Park in Gwinnett, Lynwood Park in Brookhaven, Bessie Branham in Decatur, Ron Anderson Recreation Center in Cobb County, Welcome All Park in South Fulton and Coan Park Recreation Center in Atlanta. The two organizations have also collaborated on high-impact endeavors such as: providing free pop-up grocery stores in partnership with Goodr Inc., for elderly and underserved citizens in Metro Atlanta during the pandemic and expanding the Snack Pack Program which served more than 24,000 snack packs to youth throughout the school year and during summer break.
The Hawks and State Farm continue to work together to build a stronger Atlanta community. To learn more about the Hawks’ work in the community, visit Hawks.com/community.