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Education

Retired NFL lineman became the ‘lunch man’ at his kids' school to promote healthy eating

jared veldheer, school lunches, arizona cardinals

Jared Veldheer goes from lineman to lunch man.

Jared Veldheer played 11 seasons as an offensive lineman in the NFL from 2010 to 2020, spending most of his playing career with the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The 6' 8" Veldheer was known for his incredible size, weighing as much as 330 pounds during the height of his career.

Veldheer was so large that he even stood out while standing next to other NFL linemen.



After Veldheer retired, he began looking for a new career path that allowed him to follow his passions. In August 2021, he learned that St. Paul the Apostle School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where both his children attend, was in need of someone to manage the school’s kitchen.

The former NFL star had been advising the school’s principal about nutrition and when the job opened up he asked to be considered. Veldheer has a lifelong love of food that started when he was a child. If he didn’t like the lunch his mother made, he would make his own.

"I've always liked cooking," Veldheer told ESPN. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to, you know, be the school lunch lady, but anyway, gave it some thought and I was like, I'm kind of looking for something to do with my time. It's not a bad gig time-commitment wise. I'm around my kids. So I just kind of went for it.”

Now, the former NFL star who earned millions in his career makes $15 an hour and works from 7:45 a.m. to around 1 p.m.

Veldheer is passionate about changing the perceptions surrounding school lunches. "We are able to kind of break the traditional route of school food that looks like just a hunk of frozen corn and a big old rectangular piece of pizza,” he told WZZM13.

Since the former athlete took over, the school has broken from the usual lunch menu standards of chicken nuggets and pizza. Instead, it's added more exotic fare, including beef bulgogi, chicken tikka masala, smoked carnitas and chimichurri flank steak.

Overall, his mission is "to nourish developing humans."

"A lot of kids just eat crap," he said. "I think we live in a time where a lot of kids just kind of get by with snacking all the time with just processed crap in the cupboard. So, it's like, if I can just make it my goal to give them one nourishing meal, then that's good."

The man who once guarded the blind side of quarterbacks such as Carson Palmer and Aaron Rodgers now protects his students’ health by eliminating as many seed oils and simple sugars from their diets as possible.

Even though Veldheer is completely dedicated to his new job, the parents and faculty at the school can’t help but chuckle a little when they see the 6' 8" former lineman serving up lunch.

"A picture's worth a thousand words on this," St. Paul the Apostle principal Michelle Morrow said. "I'm grinning ear-to-ear just picturing and seeing what I get to see every day, the kids looking straight up to him yet can feel so comfortable and confident in asking him questions and trying different foods, and really figuring out what he's doing.”

You better believe that when Veldheer asks the kids to take another bite of their meal they listen.

"He'll go in the cafeteria and be like, 'Alright, everybody, I want you to take a bite of those beans. I made them special for you,'" Molly Cotter, who has three kids at the school said. "And boy, did they do it."

Identity

Celebrate International Women's Day with these stunning photos of female leaders changing the world

The portraits, taken by acclaimed photographer Nigel Barker, are part of CARE's "She Leads the World" campaign.

Images provided by CARE

Kadiatu (left), Zainab (right)

True

Women are breaking down barriers every day. They are transforming the world into a more equitable place with every scientific discovery, athletic feat, social justice reform, artistic endeavor, leadership role, and community outreach project.

And while these breakthroughs are happening all the time, International Women’s Day (Mar 8) is when we can all take time to acknowledge the collective progress, and celebrate how “She Leads the World.

This year, CARE, a leading global humanitarian organization dedicated to empowering women and girls, is celebrating International Women’s Day through the power of portraiture. CARE partnered with high-profile photographer Nigel Barker, best known for his work on “America’s Next Top Model,” to capture breathtaking images of seven remarkable women who have prevailed over countless obstacles to become leaders within their communities.

“Mabinty, Isatu, Adama, and Kadiatu represent so many women around the world overcoming incredible obstacles to lead their communities,” said Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA.

Barker’s bold portraits, as part of CARE’s “She Leads The World” campaign, not only elevate each woman’s story, but also shine a spotlight on how CARE programs helped them get to where they are today.

About the women:

Mabinty

international womens day, care.org

Mabinty is a businesswoman and a member of a CARE savings circle along with a group of other women. She buys and sells groundnuts, rice, and fuel. She and her husband have created such a successful enterprise that Mabinty volunteers her time as a teacher in the local school. She was the first woman to teach there, prompting a second woman to do so. Her fellow teachers and students look up to Mabinty as the leader and educator she is.

Kadiatu

international womens day, care.org

Kadiatu supports herself through a small business selling food. She also volunteers at a health clinic in the neighboring village where she is a nursing student. She tests for malaria, works with infants, and joins her fellow staff in dancing and singing with the women who visit the clinic. She aspires to become a full-time nurse so she can treat and cure people. Today, she leads by example and with ambition.

Isatu

international womens day, care.org

When Isatu was three months pregnant, her husband left her, seeking his fortune in the gold mines. Now Isatu makes her own way, buying and selling food to support her four children. It is a struggle, but Isatu is determined to be a part of her community and a provider for her kids. A single mother of four is nothing if not a leader.

Zainab

international womens day, care.org

Zainab is the Nurse in Charge at the Maternal Child Health Outpost in her community. She is the only nurse in the surrounding area, and so she is responsible for the pre-natal health of the community’s mothers-to-be and for the safe delivery of their babies. In a country with one of the world’s worst maternal death rates, Zainab has not lost a single mother. The community rallies around Zainab and the work she does. She describes the women who visit the clinic as sisters. That feeling is clearly mutual.

Adama

international womens day, care.org

Adama is something few women are - a kehkeh driver. A kehkeh is a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi, known elsewhere as a tuktuk. Working in the Kissy neighborhood of Freetown, Adama is the primary breadwinner for her family, including her son. She keeps her riders safe in other ways, too, by selling condoms. With HIV threatening to increase its spread, this is a vital service to the community.

Ya Yaebo

international womens day, care.org

“Ya” is a term of respect for older, accomplished women. Ya Yaebo has earned that title as head of her local farmers group. But there is much more than that. She started as a Village Savings and Loan Association member and began putting money into her business. There is the groundnut farm, her team buys and sells rice, and own their own oil processing machine. They even supply seeds to the Ministry of Agriculture. She has used her success to the benefit of people in need in her community and is a vocal advocate for educating girls, not having gone beyond grade seven herself.

On Monday, March 4, CARE will host an exhibition of photography in New York City featuring these portraits, kicking off the multi-day “She Leads the World Campaign.

Learn more, view the portraits, and join CARE’s International Women's Day "She Leads the World" celebration at CARE.org/sheleads.


Health

Over or under? Surprisingly, there actually is a 'correct' way to hang a toilet paper roll.

Let's settle this silly-but-surprisingly-heated debate once and for all.

Elya/Wikimedia Commons

Should you hang the toilet paper roll over or under?



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The "over or under" question has plagued marriages and casual acquaintances alike for over 100 years, with both sides convinced they have the soundest reasoning for putting their toilet paper loose end out or loose end under. Some people feel so strongly about right vs. wrong TP hanging that they will even flip the roll over when they go to the bathroom in the homes of strangers.

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