Cooking Tips

Keeping it fresh at Sarah’s Circle

In the spring of 2010, fruits and vegetables served at Sarah’s Circle in Uptown were canned, frozen or processed. Today, all of that has changed at the Uptown-based non-profit dedicated to serving homeless women.

“We don’t have any canned vegetables anymore,” said executive director Kathy Ragnar with a smile.

Thanks to the determination and efforts of Jen Loboda, a 34-year-old Edgewater resident who wanted to make a difference, fresh fruits and vegetables are available during the three daily meals the organization serves.

In 2010, Loboda was interested in getting involved with Sarah’s Circle, but she wasn’t sure how. She met with Ragner, who told her about a grant that the program had received years ago that covered fresh fruits and vegetables from an area farm. Unfortunately, Ragnar said, the $1,000 grant didn’t last long, and with shrinking budgets, the organization wasn’t able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables since it ended.

Loboda, who had been especially interested in nutrition since her daughter was born in 2008, couldn’t imagine a life without leafy green lettuce, fresh corn on the cob or vine-ripened tomatoes. She saw her opportunity to step in. Using her and her husband’s money and money that friends and family donated, she started the Fruits & Vegetable Project. Each week, she would visit the Green City Market in Lincoln Park and load up on all kind of fresh fruits and vegetables — beets, green beans, strawberries, apples and more, and deliver it to Sarah’s Circle, which serves 60 to 80 meals a day.

When she saw the grateful looks on the women’s faces with each delivery, she knew she was doing the right thing.

“Originally, it was going to be a one-summer thing,” she said. “When that was starting to come to a close, I realized I didn’t want it to stop. I wanted to make it a permanent thing for Sarah’s Circle.”

Loboda has continued raising money for the project through Sarah’s Circle’s website.

To save time and money, Loboda has begun shopping at local markets, and visits Stanley’s or Edgewater Produce every other Wednesday, loading her car and delivering it to Sarah’s Circle’s chef, who sends her a shopping list.

“I think it’s something that everybody deserves,” she said. “These ladies, with the problems they’re having, they need it more than I do. They need those nutrients, they need that good feeling you get from good food as opposed to processed food, just for their mental state and their self worth. They need it more than a lot of us that have the money to buy it.”

Ragnar says that Loboda has made a wonderful impact on the women’s lives.

“We are serving a physically challenged community to begin with, who have issues with high blood pressure, diabetes, many of them have health that’s been lagging for a number of years,” she said.

In addition to the vitamins and nutrients that the fresh food provides, Ragnar says that it also make a difference on a spiritual level.

“It affects your well being. You get a plate of food and it’s balanced. It’s not just something that’s been frozen and reheated. It’s fresh. I think at a certain level that reflects, ‘I’m worth this plate of freshly made food,’” she said. “You take that in every day in multiple meals, and I think your body starts to get used to the freshness and get used to the healthy food. And that affects your whole outlook.”

A doctor’s perspective
Dr. Nanajan Yakoub, a family medicine physician at Swedish Covenant Hospital, agrees that eating good nutrients can help these women feel better physically and emotionally.

“The nutritional value is more rich in fresh fruits and vegetables compared to canned, chemically processed foods,” she said. “Getting these wholesome nutrients can make these women feel good physically and also nourish their mind and soul.”

If you’re interested in helping Loboda continue to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the women at Sarah’s Circle, you can make a donation on the Sarah’s Circle’s website.

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