A nonprofit in the Heber Valley wants families to come have a free meal and take one to go to start the next week.
The Caring Community Coalition is observing National Family Meals Month by hosting its annual Family Dinner in the Park Monday.
It’s a drive-through event this year and will be held at Southfield Park, at 415 Southfield Road. It’s happening from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
There’ll be 500 hoagie sandwiches available to eat on-site, including gluten-free options. In addition, sponsors of the event will have stations for people to drive through. At each one, cars will collect one ingredient to take home and use to make taco soup. The soup is vegetarian friendly.
Also at each station, sponsors will relay one educational message about the importance of family and time spent together.
Any food left over will go to local food banks.
“[Eating meals together with the family] creates family bonds, it opens up family communication,” said Trudy Brereton of Wasatch Behavioral Health. “Kids who eat meals with their families do better in school, have better grades, are less likely to participate in high-risk behaviors like alcohol and drug use. It helps with obesity prevention because they tend to eat healthier if they sit down and eat together, eat a home-cooked meal. So, that’s our purpose for doing this.”
The Caring Community Coalition brings local government, service groups, schools and community members together. Its mission is to identify and target ways to improve wellbeing in Wasatch County.
“We are a community coalition that represents all different sectors of our community. We are a data-driven coalition; we review data and look at where the problem areas are, and then we work to address those problems. It’s also a network, like a sharing coalition where people can talk about their events they have going on or problems they’re seeing in the community,” Brereton said.
One of the sponsors is the Wasatch Latino Coalition, which told KPCW it’s looking for a couple more volunteers for its booth.
For more information on the event or the Caring Community Coalition, call 4435-657-3307. For how to volunteer at the Wasatch Latino Coalition booth, visit wasatchlatinocoalition.org.
