By Christy Garrison
Junior League of Greater Princeton volunteers joined preschool students and teachers from Homefront’s Cherry Tree Club to visit Lee’s Turkey Farm today. The group toured the farm and picked strawberries, a new experience for many of the children from inner-city Trenton. The farm trip is the culmination of the “Fruit Fairies” program, which brought Junior League volunteers to the preschool monthly to provide fresh fruit and related learning activities to the preschool.
The Cherry Tree Club is a preschool serving homeless and at-risk children in Mercer County, New Jersey. It is a collaborative effort between Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and HomeFront, which the church initiated in 1995.
Every weekday, the Cherry Tree bus transports children from shelters, temporary housing and motels and brings them to the preschool at Prince of Peach Lutheran Church. There, children who might not otherwise be able to afford a quality early childhood education, can learn and grow in an enriching educational environment.
The Junior League of Greater Princeton partnered with the Cherry Tree Club this year to provide monthly fruit or vegetable packages to the preschool. Each month, the JLGP volunteers, who call themselves "Fruit Fairies", deliver lunch bags to each child containing a piece of fruit, a fruit fact card and a simple, healthy recipe using the fruit. Supplies and instructions for a child friendly craft or activity are also included in the bags. The deliveries are monthly from September to June and reach approximately 25-30 children each month.
Director Wendy Schutzer said, “Fruit Fairies is a wonderful complement to the lessons we teach to encourage our students to spend time outside getting fresh air, being active and eating healthy foods. It’s harder for families who aren’t in a permanent residence, but these are life lessons we hope will stick with our Cherry Tree Club children.”
According to Nicole Coelho Antoun of the Children’s Initiative that sponsors Fruit Fairies, “We wanted to introduce children to fruits they may not have tried or to a fruit in its natural state. Not all children have that opportunity.”
The Junior League of Greater Princeton, through its Kids in the Kitchen program, has provided many activities for children in the greater Mercer-county area over the last several years focusing on healthy eating and wellness. Kids in the Kitchen participated in the YMCA Healthy Kids Day, brought a nutritionist to the YWCA preschool for parents and children to learn more about healthy eating, and sponsored a family dinner event at Stepping Stones Learning Institute in Trenton, also with the help of a local nutritionist.
About Junior League of Greater Princeton
Founded in 1921 in Trenton, the Junior League of Greater Princeton is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization of over 250 women living in the greater Princeton area. The JLGP is committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Our purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The Junior League of Greater Princeton is part of the Association of Junior Leagues International, which includes 292 Junior Leagues in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Great Britain.
For more information please visit www.jlgp.org.

