A day care in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is helping children in low-income households get healthy meals.
Beverly Forbes Daycare works alongside the nonprofit Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDCO) to get access to the state's Child and Adult Care Food Program. The program ensures nutritious meals are provided to low-income children in day care settings.
"We are able to support the economic stability of home-based children," says Erika Hval, WHEDO senior development officer. "We're able to improve providers' knowledge of nutrition and meal planning and of course we're ultimately able to influence the healthy eating habits of providers, children and their families."
Children at the day care told News 12 they love eating fruits and vegetables. Their parents say having their children try healthy foods at the day care gets them to eat those foods at home.
Hval says parents also learn about healthier options they may not have tried otherwise.
"It becomes a habit and it will stay with them for the rest of their life," Hval says.