Courtesy of The Fit and Food Connection
Gabi Cole grew up knowing that she wanted to give back to her community. When she started volunteering, she saw how having access to healthy food options affects a person’s success in life.
The seed was planted.
She started collecting food and running a pantry out of her mom’s house. “There was so much food in my mom’s dining room,” she laughs.
At the same time, Joy Millner, a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant, was hosting small nutrition classes in the same community. “I just went into North St. Louis and knocked on a door and asked if I could hold a class for two or three people,” she says. “It started as a small thing.”
Courtesy of The Fit and Food Connection
Joy Millner and Gabi Cole
The two were brought together by one of Cole’s volunteers.
Millner was planning a workout while eating breakfast at a local restaurant, when someone asked about her work. “I started telling her about my work, and she said there is someone you have to meet.” The girl, Cole’s volunteer, proceeded to tell Millner about Cole’s passion for fighting hunger with healthy solutions, and Millner agreed that they needed to meet.
Millner thinks back to that phone call she made four years ago: “I just said 'I think we’re meant to be together.'”
The two talked and decided to work together, and in 2013, they created The Fit and Food Connection, an organization that now serves 250 people each month.
At first, they might seem like an unlikely duo. But the pair complete each other’s sentences—when one hesitates, the other chimes in.
“Everything I’m not, she is," Cole says with a laugh, "and everything she’s not, I am. It just works.”
Cole hesitates. “It took awhile for us to figure out how to make that work.”
“And to appreciate it,” Millner interjects.
“But it just works now,” Cole says.
“And what we do could never be done alone,” Millner adds.
Courtesy of The Fit and Food Connection
Millner leads the group fitness and group nutrition classes, while Cole spearheads the organic garden and food assistance. They started with these four programs, but have created a fifth program, which offers personalized fitness and nutrition coaching. The one-on-one program has become the link between “fit” and “food.”
Their clients use their services for different reasons. “Most of the people who come to the fitness and nutrition program have a reason to get healthy. The people we serve through the food assistance program, need food,” Millner says.
Through the one-on-one sessions, Millner and Cole have been able to educate those utilizing the food assistance program on how to make healthy choices.
“We were finding that the people in the food assistance program were not wanting to come over and take advantage of our group fitness and nutrition programs, so we decided we were going to prioritize one-on-one to get our people together,” Millner says.
They teach their clients how to prep and cook the food they are receiving from the pantry, most of which is fresh produce. They accompany their clients to the grocery store, where they teach them how to buy healthy foods on a budget.
Courtesy of The Fit and Food Connection
“I think that’s their favorite part,” Cole adds. “A lot of time they get things or are told to eat certain things, and they don’t really know what they’re doing.”
There is a sense of community that the organization has created by working with people in their environment. It’s not uncommon for volunteers to work alongside community members in the garden.
“That was so important for me building this organization," Cole says. "We wanted to put people first and all work together.”
Cole credits that “natural sense of community for drawing volunteers from all over the world.”
The organization’s 60 volunteers come from places as far away as Bosnia and Uganda.
“Our mission just resonates with people,” Millner says.
“I don’t think they’re initially interested in St. Louis; it’s the mission,” Cole says. “I think it becomes St. Louis once they become a part of the organization.”
The Fit and Food Connection is always looking for volunteers. If you are interested, email info@fitandfoodconnection.org.
