WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — Nichole Dube and her 11-year-old daughter London, of Dube’s Mobile Market, deliver 400 bags of produce every week to schools and Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Pasco County during the summer.
“So a lot of these kids rely on summer feeding programs to help supplement their families and we are really excited to be able to give them fresh produce because most of those feeding programs will supply them the non-perishable items,” said Nichole.
They call the six-week-program Food is Health. It’s a partnership between the Dube family, UF/IFAS Extension and Advent Health.
“So often times you don’t see the collaboration between a large organization and a small business, but this collaboration means the world to me,” said Nichole. “I’m able to stay in business, keep impacting our community, encourage others that they can.”
They visit a total of two Boys & Girls Clubs and three elementary schools, most recently Quail Hollow Elementary.
First kids attend classes where they learn the importance of eating healthy and getting exercise. Then at the end students all leave with a bag full of fresh fruits and vegetables.
“It's amazing because its true most kids think, or most people think, you go to Publix to get your produce or somewhere else and to be able to show kids this came out of the farm, came out the ground just a few miles down the road,” said Connie Bladon with Advent Health Wesley Chapel.
“I work in a lot of food deserts so this particular area doesn’t have a lot of grocery stores right around it so Quail Hollow really needed her program to come in here and give produce to the kids,” said Tabitha Villa with UF/IFAS Extension.
Quail Hollow is a particularly important stop for the Dube family. London went to school there from kindergarten through 5th grade. As a farmer and parent Nichole felt a responsibly to give back.
“I would ask simple questions like, ‘has anyone ever tried a fresh green bean,’ or ‘have you ever eaten a fresh pineapple,’ and a lot of the kids had only seen them in cans or in the fruit cups so exposing them to fresh and getting them to try it and taste it and engage with it just became that passion and led me to my purpose,” said Nichole.
The Dube family’s dedication and hard work was even recognized by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, through the Advent Health Goal Getter Program.
“My daughter and I waved in the pirate ship, and it’s incredible to be recognized for doing the work, but it has also caused me to analyze the impact, this summer we are going to distribute 19,000 pounds of produce, it's just surreal to me,” said Nichole.
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