Sankofa HEAL Project Receives Award by AstraZeneca Healthcare Foundation!

Last week Sankofa staff, Astrazeneca HealthCare Foundation chairman Dr. James Blaseto, respected members of the community, several members of the press, and numerous HEAL club members packed into classroom 317 of ARISE Academy. The reason we hosted this gathering was for us to show the local community just what we do at Sankofa Community Development Corporation. In addition to sharing our efforts and progress with the community, we also celebrated our relationship with AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. This is the third consecutive year we have received an award from the HealthCare Foundation. Our acceptance of this generous gift can be seen above.

Zedekiyan Morrison, HEAL participant, who is pictured below, shared her experiences as a project participant.

We were honored to have other speakers such as Dr. Daphne Ferdinand Executive Director of Healthy Heart Community Prevention Project, Dr. Denese Shervington President of Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies, and Pam Broom Board Member from The Reconciliation Institute also speak on our behalf. 

The room was filled with posters and photos of Sankofa's current and past work in the community.

Our nutrition educator, Kelly Bond, planned out the refreshment table, and with the help of HEAL club students and Sankofa staff the delicious treats became a reality. 

We offered citrus infused water to drink, which was thoroughly enjoyed by attendees. We used Meyer lemons from Rashida's lemon tree and cucumbers to give the water a unique taste.

 

Since it was a rather chilly and rainy morning, we had hot tea as well. We decided to utilize the large rosemary bush flourishing in the school's garden. 

Sprigs of the herb were added to hot water, along with hibiscus and orange tea bags (giving the drink that gorgeous color you can see below). We offered slices of lemon and local honey to top off the soothing tea. 

Because rosemary is quite healthy, Miss Kelly put together a small flyer describing the herb and explaining its health benefits to guests. 

Just as the enrichment students had enjoyed fruit kebabs during class time, we also had them for guests to enjoy at the press conference. Instead of using strawberries, this time we used local Louisiana oranges. The HEAL club kids placed the orange slices on toothpicks the day prior to the event. Very helpful!

The HEAL club also prepared the guacamole needed for the cucumber sandwiches. Since they came out so well, we've decided to share the recipe with you below! Enjoy!

Refreshing Cucumber and Guacamole Sandwiches 

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers
• 4 ripe Haas avocados
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbl cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

• First you want to prepare the guacamole, as it should sit in the refrigerator for about an hour after preparation. To begin, mash the avocados in a large bowl and squeeze the lime juice over them. Toss to coat. 
• Mash the salt and cumin into the avocado mixture. Fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. 
• Cover the guacamole tightly with plastic wrap to prevent it from browning and place the bowl in the refrigerator for one hour. 
• Slice up the cucumbers. Spread a small amount of the chilled guacamole between two slices of cucumber to create your sandwiches. Be careful not to place too much guacamole in the sandwich, if you do you'll wind up with a mess! You can stick toothpicks in the sandwiches to keep them together.
• You'll likely have some leftover guacamole, just tightly cover it with plastic wrap and stick it back in the refrigerator until you use it. Baking your own pita chips is a great way to use up any leftover guacamole!