The Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics (SAND) at Indiana University of Pennsylvania has organized a smoothie sale and mac and cheese crockpot charity cookoff to celebrate National Nutrition Month in March.
This year’s theme for National Nutrition Month is “Discover the Power of Nutrition.”
National Nutrition Month events begin with a smoothie sale on March 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Hadley Union Building atrium. For $2, persons can get a banana, spinach, and mixed fruit smoothie.
The mac and cheese crockpot cook-off, which is open to the community, will be held March 25 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Hadley Union Building Monongahela Room. For a $2 donation, spectators may sample the entries and vote for a favorite.
All proceeds from the smoothie sale and cook-off event will be donated to the IUP Food Pantry and Help Center, which provides food, toiletries, school supplies, and clothing items to IUP students in need. SAND has donated more than $2,300 to the Food Pantry and Help Center since 2019 through its National Nutrition Month fundraising events.
Sophia Letzo from Johnstown is chair of IUP’s National Nutrition Month events; cochairs for the event are Jessica Guzman Calderon from Kennett Square and Wyatt McKendree from Bellwood. All three are nutrition-dietetics majors at IUP.
Entries from university groups and individuals are welcome; for information about how to enter the cookoff, persons should contact Letzo at ldzdc@iup.edu. The deadline for registering an entry into the cookoff is March 18. Each entry must include a whole grain or a vegetable.
SAND, which includes 35 undergraduate students at IUP, is supported by the Department of Allied and Public Health. The purpose of SAND is to provide members with professional involvement in food and nutrition activities as they develop their career potential.
The goals of the organization are to increase involvement in food and nutrition activities through educational and community experiences, provide peer mentoring and tutoring, serve as a liaison with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and educate the community with current food and nutrition information, including through National Nutrition Month events.
In addition to the opportunity to be active with SAND, students in the major can gain hands-on, real-life experience helping IUP athletes optimize their nutrition through the IUP Sports Performance Nutrition Services or working in the IUP Nutrition Connection office, which provides free, personalized nutrition counseling to the IUP campus and Indiana community.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As IUP celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.