Bronx teens look at food insecurities
BY JASON COHEN
With food insecurities high
in the Bronx that have been
exacerbated by COVID-19, a
group of students created a
mobile app that will help people
try to eat healthily and access
nutritious food.
Recently, The Thinkubator
worked with ReThink
Food through its Thinkubator
Solves program (Bronx
youth paid student consultancy)
on crafting solutions
to combating food insecurity
in the Bronx and hosted a solution
day on Dec. 16, where
teens made recommendations
on how to deal with the challenges
the Bronx is experiencing.
The Thinkubator trains,
educates and connects kids to
work-based learning experiences,
employment and educational
opportunities.
On The Thinkubator Student
Application one can fi nd
what’s happening in the community,
upcoming events,
search and upload recipes, follow
the menu of the day, motivate
others by generating
quotes, submit questions and
search through a large knowledge
base and donate food or
The blueprints for the mobile app. Courtesy of The Thinkubator
money so Rethink can keep
the communities healthy.
“Because of COVID-19 we
were limited in what we could
do,” said Taibou Diallo, 18, a
freshman at Lehman College,
one of the students involved
in the project. “Our best bet
is to create an app. Hopefully
COVID ends and people could
still use the app.”
The other kids in the program
were: Asmaou Barry, 16,
junior, Bronx International
High School, Melany Almonte,
16, senior, Bronx International
High School, Ngoye Dip,
15, sophomore, Bronx Center
Let’s talk shop
about your shop.
Your business has been there for Co-Op City.
We’re here for you, too.
Visit us in Co-Op City
500 Baychester Ave (@ Baychester & Bartow)
Contact Theresa Whittick at (347) 964-3237,
theresaann.whittick@td.com,
or visit tdbank.com/smallbusiness.
Unexpectedly Human
Member FDIC, TD Bank, N.A.
BRONX TIMES R 18 REPORTER, DEC. 25-31, 2020
for Science and Mathematics,
Marco Pichardo, 22, Rhaming
Williams, 17, junior, South
Bronx Community Charter
School, Deon Diaz, 16, junior,
Bronx Community Charter
High School, Nicole Batista,
17, senior, South Bronx Community
Charter High School
and Jahlil Williams, 15,
Soundview’ Bronx Center for
Science and Math Computer
Science.
The teens broke food insecurities
into four parts: economic
stability, education,
health and how it affects physical
access to food. They discovered
that USDA National
Health Interview Survey indicated
that the number of
chronic conditions for adults
in food-insecure households
was, on average, 18 percent
higher than for those in foodsecure
households.
Many people who attended
the Zoom session were impressed
with their presentation,
including Sharone Wellington
deAnda, assistant
director, The Thinkubator.
“This is such a great idea,
I really love it as a tool of connecting
to the community,
even during COVID,” Wellington
deAnda said.
Matt Jozwiak, founder
and CEO of Rethink NYC was
quite impressed with what the
teens came up with.
“I’m blown away. I’ve always
dreamed of an app,” Jozwiak
said.
37935-TD20_Co-Op_City_GO_Post_SB_8.75x5.6875_r5.indd 1 10/23/20 10:01 AM
link
/smallbusiness
link