Programs
CHAMP Nutrition Program
Recipe of the Month:
Sausage and Zucchini Orzo
CHAMP Meals are healthy recipes that are distributed to client families every 2 months and include all the necessary ingredients to prepare that recipe. Each meal includes four servings and is easy to make. Our hope is this will encourage a palate for healthy foods and healthy eating habits. CHAMP Meals also provide an opportunity to learn to cook something new.
The St. Joe’s CHAMP Program was created in 2010 to provide education and services that will meet the nutrition and health needs of all guests at St. Joseph Food Program.
Community
Collaboration is vital in the success of community health improvement programs. Since health encompasses so many aspects of our lives, we believe it is essential to partner with area organizations to provide comprehensive education and services for our clients. Each organization has its own individual focus, which allows us to provide specialized resources we would otherwise not have the background or manpower to provide.
Health
St. Joe’s understands that health is more than just a medical term. Health includes physical, emotional, and mental health as well. How you feel influences every area of your life, and we believe it is important to address all of these areas. Because of this, we are working to develop community partnerships and provide educational resources to help you optimize all areas of health.
Activity
Being physically active is linked to improved health and decreased risk of many medical conditions. Unfortunately, many Americans do not participate in nearly enough physical activity. Living an active lifestyle, moving more, and including physical activity as a daily routine.
Motivation
We understand that making lifestyle changes can be hard. The commitment required to see results can be difficult to maintain alone, which is why we believe it is so important to help our clients stay motivated. St. Joe’s is more than happy to host support group meetings for any type of health concern.
Prevention
Many of the chronic diseases in America are preventable. Most people would agree they would prefer to prevent a disease from occurring than manage the disease for the rest of their lives. We agree and are committed to providing our clients with resources to help them prevent the onset of chronic disease.
Food Farmacy
St. Joseph Food Program takes pride in our commitment to offer healthy food to our guest families. Our guests have benefited from fresh produce, meat, eggs, milk, and non-perishable staples. We are excited to introduce a new program, Food Farmacy, for individuals with special dietary needs. With an initial focus on diabetes and heart disease, Food Farmacy will replace the staples bag with a dietician-approved alternative bag. Those who enroll will receive non-perishables that are low in sugar and sodium. St. Joe's has also added a gluten-free option as well for those with Celiac Disease or gluten allergies. For those who have family members who would like our regular staples bag, a hybrid of bags may be requested.
To prevent long-term complications, research shows that a healthy diet is important in regulating blood sugar or managing heart disease. For some, accessing healthy food can be difficult. This can have devastating consequences for those who have conditions directly impacted by diet. The Food Farmacy program was created to help our community bridge that gap.
Sugar-free jelly
Low sodium soup
Low-sugar pasta sauce
Whole wheat pasta
Gluten-free pasta
Unsalted nuts
Low-sodium canned vegetables
Current Needs
No sugar added canned fruit
Ensure/protein shakes (under 7g sugar)
Oats
Brown rice (plain and mixes)
Unsweetened applesauce
Anything sugar or gluten free
Grow a Row
St. Joseph Food Program was founded by the idea of providing fresh, locally grown produce to those in our community needing food assistance. To honor our beginnings, our Grow a Row program is designed to encourage our community to grow and donate fresh produce to St. Joe’s. These donation will help give the families of the food program greater nutritional choices.
Families and businesses donated over 55,000 pounds of fresh produce in 2023!
It’s easy to get started and join our Grow a Row Program:
Plant an extra row or potted plant of produce for St. Joseph Food Program
Tend to the plant throughout the growing season
Once ready to pick, drop off the donated produce to St. Joe’s during our donation hours (linked below)
Do you live in a high traffic, walking area? We have yard signs you can use to advertise for Grow a Row and show off your impressive skills! Reach out to Heather Du Vall at hduvall@stjoesfoodprogram or 920-734-9461 x309 to see if your location is a fit for a yard sign.
Backpack Food Assistance Program
1,500 students are impacted by this program each school year!
St. Joe’s Backpack Food Assistance Program supplies ready-to-eat or easy-to-heat weekend food to over 1,500 students in nine school districts in the Fox Valley area each week. Students receive 2 breakfast, 2 lunch, and 2 dinner items in addition to fruit and a protein meat stick each week, with high schoolers receiving an additional 2 items. Students are identified by school counselors, teachers, or staff. The program runs throughout the school year.
Schools reported, through our survey, an increased focus and energy in the classroom along with less student illness due to the Backpack Food Assistance Program. Having the basic need of hunger met, students are less worried about food and therefore have better behavior at school. This increases learning in the classroom and provides stability.
Please click the "Donate Now" button above if you'd like to donate to the Backpack Food Assistance Program!
“I am not hungry for the weekend.”
“The program means to me very much because my family have less worry.”
Outreach Agencies Served by St. Joe’s:
Outreach Services
Not only does St. Joseph Food Program provide free food through our pantry services, we also provide free food products to other area nonprofits to support their work and lessen their food cost.
In 2023, St. Joe’s provided our Outreach Agencies and Alliance Pantries with 514,874 pounds of food, free of charge. That is equal to a value of $1,070,938!
Alliance Pantries
St. Joe’s provides food free of charge to three food pantries to ensure they have supplies to serve their clients in their own neighborhoods. These pantries use the same client qualification process and software as St. Joe’s.
