Every week, 8-year-old Luna travels from Wimauma, Florida, to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital with her mother and two younger sisters for speech therapy. There, Luna works on her reading and writing skills with speech-language pathologist Michelle Saade. After the appointment, Luna's family often visits the All Kids Campus Market to get groceries for the week. Just downstairs from the therapy room, the convenient food market offers fresh produce, frozen meats, canned and dry goods, and condiments at no cost.

"There's a variety of selection," says Luna's mother, Sanjuanita. "It's a safe place to pick and choose whatever we want."

Since the market is in the same building as the Speech-Language and Feeding Department, Saade often tells her patients' families about it or brings them down to practice their language skills.  

Luna has a medical history of mild to moderate bilateral hearing loss, which is paired with other significant heart and gastroenterological conditions. Saade sometimes works with Luna by practicing reading recipes found in the market. She says it encourages Luna to follow directions and is a fun activity because the family can get the recipe ingredients at the market.

"I love seeing the families' excitement after learning that the market is a free resource to them," Saade says. "A lot of them look forward to it, and some may even come to the hospital on a day when they don't have an appointment just to utilize this resource. They have access to fresh produce, not only canned or processed foods like what is available at a lot of food pantries, and it's heart-warming to see children be involved in grocery shopping and cooking healthy foods with their families."

All Kids Campus Market program coordinator Karen Diaz Serrano says the market was established to help patients with food insecurity.

"We're able to help people stretch their food budgets," Diaz Serrano says. "Families are blown away that it is all free, and they can choose what they want."

The market is open on Tuesdays and also alternates between Wednesdays and Thursdays. The program is funded by grants and the St. Pete Free Clinic. Diaz Serrano says the market serves about 100 people per week.

"Access plays a huge part in healthy eating among a food insecure population. It's not that people don't want to eat healthy or don't know how. It's simply that they don't have access to what they need," Diaz Serrano says. "Every week, the produce we offer is the star of the show, and we've had market participants reporting that they are consuming more fruits and vegetables now because of this program."

Saade says the market is a big help for many of the families with whom she works.

"It's nice that the market enables the children to pick whatever they like. Nothing is off-limits," Saade says. "It's a positive experience for everyone. When I go with my patients, it's a nice way to work on language in a functional setting. We talk about what we see and talk about what is expected in a social setting, like greeting someone. It's a chance to say hi and interact with people. It breaks up the routine of the therapy room."

Mario Da Silva, procurement manager at the St. Pete Free Clinic (SPFC), collaborates with Diaz Serrano to provide fresh and healthy foods to the market. SPFC staff members and volunteers organize the food items at the Jared S. Hechtkopf Food Bank and then deliver them weekly.

When Da Silva started with SPFC, he was a driver and warehouse assistant. Over the years, he's gotten to know the people who run the different pantries and has seen the All Children's market program grow. He was there the day the market relocated from the small office on the second floor to the spacious area where it resides today.

"I was so moved to see JHACH's commitment to helping those in need," Da Silva says. "It's such a beautifully organized and clean pantry. It feels so welcoming to all the patients and community members."

For more information about the market, please email Karen Diaz Serrano at [email protected]. For additional food resources, visit https://stpetersburgfreeclinic.org/map/. Community members can use the "Find Food" feature on the SPFC website to find the food resources closest to their location.