{"id":1744,"date":"2025-08-01T07:55:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T14:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2025-08-01T11:40:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T18:40:24","slug":"empowering-kids-and-communities-through-food-and-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/2025\/08\/01\/empowering-kids-and-communities-through-food-and-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering kids and communities through food and fun"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hello again!<\/p>\n<p>My name is Madeline Breiling, and I am now in my last week as a SNAP-Ed intern. Throughout my internship this summer, I have had the opportunity to assist and take the lead on many projects throughout Umatilla County. Reflecting on the work I\u2019ve done this summer and in my past summers working with OSU Extension, I am very grateful that I\u2019ve been exposed to the wide variety of outreach, engagement and support that OSU Extension brings to our communities in Umatilla County. Before applying for this internship three years ago, I had never heard of OSU Extension and now I tell everyone I know to get in contact with their local extension office.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1743\" class=\"wp-caption thumbnail alignnone\" style=\"width: 770px;\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1743\" src=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Gage-Meagher-and-Madeline-Breiling-at-the-Milton-Freewater-Farmers-Market.-Pic-Cred-Mars-Alderson.pdf-1024x791.png\" alt=\"Two people wearing food hero shirts running a table labeled food hero serving salsa.\" width=\"770\" height=\"595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Gage-Meagher-and-Madeline-Breiling-at-the-Milton-Freewater-Farmers-Market.-Pic-Cred-Mars-Alderson.pdf-1024x791.png 1024w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Gage-Meagher-and-Madeline-Breiling-at-the-Milton-Freewater-Farmers-Market.-Pic-Cred-Mars-Alderson.pdf-300x232.png 300w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Gage-Meagher-and-Madeline-Breiling-at-the-Milton-Freewater-Farmers-Market.-Pic-Cred-Mars-Alderson.pdf-768x593.png 768w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Gage-Meagher-and-Madeline-Breiling-at-the-Milton-Freewater-Farmers-Market.-Pic-Cred-Mars-Alderson.pdf.png 1056w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px\" \/>\n    <figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gage Meagher and Madeline Breiling at the Milton Freewater Farmers Market. Photo- Mars Alderson<\/figcaption>\n    <\/figure>\n<p>This summer, I have had the opportunity to hand out free food samples and Food Hero recipes at both the Pendleton Farmers Market and the Milton Freewater Farmers Market. I\u2019ve had a Food Hero table at both of these markets for the last two years, so I was excited to be back again this year. It has been fun to match recipes to the local fruits and vegetables that people can buy at the market. It has also been nice to develop more of a relationship with the local farmers and use their produce in our samples. At the Pendleton market, we also started a scavenger hunt where kids find stuffed fruits and vegetables that are hidden in different market booths. This is a lot of fun for the kids and an easy way to encourage families to stop at all of the booths and talk to the local farmers.<\/p>\n<p>I also have had the opportunity to help teach the Growing Healthy Kids curriculum at the Hermiston summer schools and the Kids in the Kitchen curriculum in Athena. Over the last seven weeks of both classes, it has been really rewarding to see the kids gain more confidence in their cooking skills and become more adventurous eaters. Students come back each week to tell us how they have been cooking with their families at home. This week is the last week of our Growing Healthy Kids classes, and we get to take the students on a field trip to the community garden in Hermiston. They get to meet with some of the Master Gardeners and learn more about how to grow some of the fruits and vegetables that they\u2019ve been cooking with. For the last week of the Kids in the Kitchen classes, they get to cook an entire three-course meal.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1750\" class=\"wp-caption thumbnail alignnone\" style=\"width: 300px;\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1750\" src=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Madeline-Breiling-teaching-the-Growing-Healthy-Kids-curriculum-at-the-Hermiston-summer-school.-Pic-Cred-Carolina-Muniz.pdf-300x232.png\" alt=\"Kids sitting around a table learning about food by a girl in a Food Hero shirt\" width=\"300\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Madeline-Breiling-teaching-the-Growing-Healthy-Kids-curriculum-at-the-Hermiston-summer-school.-Pic-Cred-Carolina-Muniz.pdf-300x232.png 300w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Madeline-Breiling-teaching-the-Growing-Healthy-Kids-curriculum-at-the-Hermiston-summer-school.-Pic-Cred-Carolina-Muniz.pdf-1024x791.png 1024w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Madeline-Breiling-teaching-the-Growing-Healthy-Kids-curriculum-at-the-Hermiston-summer-school.-Pic-Cred-Carolina-Muniz.pdf-768x593.png 768w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/3908\/files\/2025\/08\/Madeline-Breiling-teaching-the-Growing-Healthy-Kids-curriculum-at-the-Hermiston-summer-school.-Pic-Cred-Carolina-Muniz.pdf.png 1056w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n    <figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madeline Breiling teaching the Growing Healthy Kids curriculum at the Hermiston summer school. Photo- Carolina Muniz.pdf<\/figcaption>\n    <\/figure>\n<p>Last year, I handed out Food Hero food samples, recipes and information at the Pendleton food pantry and I\u2019m glad I had the opportunity to do that again this year. In addition to the Pendleton food pantry, this year I also handed out information to the Blue Mountain Community College food pantry in Pendleton. It\u2019s fun to figure out what Food Hero recipes can be made using the ingredients that the food pantries have excess of and to encourage people to take the ingredients.<\/p>\n<p>This summer has truly flown by, and I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I\u2019ve had through OSU Extension. I want to thank Shevon Hatcher, Carolina Muniz, Karen Wagner and all of the other Umatilla County OSU Extension employees who have made my last three summers enjoyable and educational.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello again! My name is Madeline Breiling, and I am now in my last week as a SNAP-Ed intern. Throughout my internship this summer, I have had the opportunity to assist and take the lead on many projects throughout Umatilla County. Reflecting on the work I\u2019ve done this summer and in my past summers working&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/2025\/08\/01\/empowering-kids-and-communities-through-food-and-fun\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14885,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[283,21,8],"tags":[171],"class_list":["post-1744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-hero","category-snap-ed","category-umatilla-county","tag-madeline-breiling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14885"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1744"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1752,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions\/1752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}