As we age, our ability to stay healthy is influenced by our daily diet. Some studies have shown that there is a correlation between poor eating habits and the high cost of health care for people over the age of 60. So, it makes sense for us at GFMP to find solutions to ensure that our seniors have choices, receive nutrition education and have accessibility to fresh produce at affordable prices.
A balanced diet full of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat and oily fish is likely to reduce our seniors exposure to some debilitating illnesses, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Seniors who do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables may eventually suffer from malnutrition, when forced to consume a steady diet of heavily processed foods that have been stripped of much needed nutrients. Besides, eating healthy increases mental acuteness and improves our outlook on life.
FITNESS TRAINING WITH THE SENIORS AT THE SALVATION ARMY LAURA DANIELI SENIOR ACTIVITY CENTER
Zumba Class
As we age, regular exercise is more important than ever to your body and mind. Among the many benefits of exercise for seniors include improved immune function, better heart and health, blood pressure, better bone density, and better digestive functioning. Seniors who exercise also have a lowered risk of several chronic conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and colon cancer.
Exercise improves your strength, flexibility and posture, which in turn will help with balance, coordination, and reducing the risk of falls. Strength training also helps alleviate the symptoms of chronic conditions such as arthritis. It is a myth, that if you’re disabled, you can’t exercise sitting down. Chair-bound seniors face special challenges but can lift light weights, stretch, and do chair aerobics to increase range of motion, improve muscle tone, and promote cardiovascular health.
I enjoyed fitness training with the seniors at The Salvation Army Laura Danieli Senior Activity Center. It takes good nutrition and exercise to stay healthy.
The mission of Gregory’s Fresh Market Place is to enrich lives to achieve healthy eating. We do this through providing access to fresh produce through our farmers markets, nutrition education classes, and exercise and fitness training.
Your donations contribute towards making these services available for seniors. GFMP appreciates your support.
Veterans at The Salvation Army Laura Danieli Senior Activity Center with Dave Everett, Walgreens store manager and Diana Gregory
The veterans at The Salvation Army Laura Danieli Senior Activity Center don’t think of Memorial Day as just a day off. The 5 of them have served our country and know that this day is meant to honor the men and women of the Armed Forces. The Veterans were acknowledged for their service during the Senior Health and Wellness Series, sponsored by Walgreens. Not only did the veterans receive a complimentary bag of fresh produce from Gregory’s Fresh Market Place provided by Walgreens, they also received Walgreens blankets and a gift card.
Gregory’s Fresh Market Place Founder, Diana Gregory, with local Walgreens store manager and pharmacist during blood pressure testing at Henson Village. Walgreens pharmacists answered senior’s questions prior to providing blood pressure screening.
Some of the residents at Senior Living at Henson Village began gathering at noon for a 3 pm presentation on Wednesday, April 25 to ensure they did not miss out on the Health and Wellness series. Nearly 70 seniors received bags filled with fruits and vegetables donated by Walgreens through Gregory’s Fresh Market Place (GFMP), as an avenue to promote living well and eating well.
In addition to receiving the fresh produce, seniors enjoyed juicing demonstrations on how to whip-up delicious smoothies and juices. Walgreens pharmacists were also on hand to provide complimentary blood pressure screenings, answer questions relating to prescriptions, and share tips on how to live well. The seniors expressed their appreciation for the event and look forward to more programs like this.
Gregory’s Fresh Market Place provided fresh fruits and vegetables to seniors, donated by Walgreens, at Henson Village.
Diana Gregory, President and CEO of GFMP commented, “Thanks to Walgreens, many seniors that don’t have transportation to travel for fresh fruits and vegetables had the fresh produce delivered where they live and received valuable information on nutrition and prescription medication. Fresh produce is extremely beneficial to help manage common health challenges such as hypertension, diabetes, heart conditions, high cholesterol, digestive issues, obesity and many more. The lives of many seniors were impacted by Walgreens sponsoring this program.”
This program is the first of four senior outreach initiatives GFMP has partnered with Walgreens on to provide fresh produce to seniors from April to June.
We are back in the community this month supporting healthy eating and living, especially for senior citizens. Not all neighborhoods have major supermarkets or access to fresh vegetables and fruits at a reasonable price. This fact is a major challenge for many seniors, whose quality of life and health is greatly depended on eating balanced meals. Gregory’s Fresh Market Place makes it possible for people to get the fresh fruits and vegetables they need right where they live. We bring the market to them!
So far this month we have held our farmers market at these locations in Phoenix.
Valley Christian Center
Matthew Henson Apartments
Broadway Terrace Apts
Matthew Henson Apartments
Lincoln Family YMCA
One of the facilities that we visited for the first time was Matthew Henson Apartments. The residents were very excited about our visit and our mission to enrich lives through healthy eating. They are looking forward to our next visit on April 5.
We continue to emphasize the significance of providing access to locally gown fresh fruits and vegetables in food desert communities were seniors live. If you would like to support our mission, consider sponsoring one or more seniors for the year. You can find details here . Also check out the rest of our events, scheduled for March.
Gregory’s Fresh Market Place (#GFMP) launched “Nutrition for the Holidays” at Tanner Gardens Apartments.
Nutrition for the Holidays, sponsored by Southwest Gas, consisted of presentations by Debbie Polisky on nutrition, food demonstrations, games, healthy tips to follow during the holiday season, blood pressure testing provided by the Black Nurse’s Association and fresh fruit and vegetable sampling. The residents received a bag filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. We thank Garry Walters and Southwest Gas for providing the gift of nutrition to the seniors at Tanner Gardens Apartments. Bottled water was donated by Nestle Waters. We thank Allison Giles for enlightening everyone on the Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program and the assistance provided by Ledale Miles, Service Coordinator at TGA.
As we age, our ability to stay healthy is influenced by our daily diet. Some studies have shown that there is a correlation between poor eating habits and the high cost of health care for people over the age of 60. So, it makes sense for us at GFMP to find solutions to ensure that our seniors have choices, receive nutrition education and have accessibility to fresh produce at affordable prices.
