On May 24th, 2024 The Newark School of Data Science and Information Technology in partnership with the Coalition for Food and Health Equity celebrated the installation of the Ujamaa Café Community Fridge. Ujamaa Café Community Fridge is stocked with healthy meal and snack alternatives that students, staff and community members can access. This partnership not only addresses the issue of access to healthy food alternatives; but through STEM for Good students will be able to collect data from the refrigerator and others in order to analyze. The data will be used to provide suggestions for stocking the refrigerators.
Also, through this partnership students will participate in the Sankofa program. The Sankofa program focuses on helping students develop and bring to market their recipes. The ultimate goal is for students to be able to sell their products as well as support the Ujamaa Café Community Fridges.
Principal Dr. Liana Summey is very excited about the opportunity for students to apply what they are learning to real life situations that serve the community.. “We are deeply excited about our partnership with the Coalition for Food and Health Equity in implementing an Ujamaa Café community refrigerator at our school,” she stated. “Not only will this program enrich our school community by offering healthy meal options for students, but the learning opportunities for young people afforded by this partnership are key to our vision and mission of inspiring the technology leaders and change agents of tomorrow.”