UCI Public Health and Northgate Gonzalez Market have something in common – a shared goal of improving the health of the community. Northgate is one of the largest Hispanic grocers in Southern California and has grown its business to 42 locations and employs 6,000 employees. One way that the company shows its appreciation is to be generous stewards of the communities in which they do business.
The 40-year-old grocer recently established a PhD Student Summer Scholarship at the UCI Program in Public Health, specifically meant for students pursuing postgraduate work in public health who have either grown up in Santa Ana, Calif., or who plan to work in that community after graduating.
“One way we can empower the community is through education and we believe that the gift of education is incredibly important,” said Ms. Evelyn Gonzalez, MS-RDN, Director of Wellbeing for Northgate. “We invest in future leaders who want to improve the community for the better.”
UCI Public Health’s mission especially resonated with the Gonzalez Family, which is to strive for health equity for all populations. The Program in Public Health does this through research, teaching, service, and public health practice. The Program confers roughly 60 graduate-level degrees each year and has roughly 200 graduate students at any point in the academic year.
“We are grateful to the Gonzalez family’s generous donation, which will benefit one of our bright, talented doctoral students,” said UCI Public Health founding dean Bernadette Boden-Albala, MPH, DrPH. “I couldn’t imagine a better organization to partner with to support our deserving students who will be able to better focus on completing their degree with this extra financial support.”
Northgate Gonzalez Market strives to bring authentic, affordable, and nutritious food options to their communities. And accessibility is of utmost importance to their mission, this includes bilingual nutritional information and education through their Viva la Salud community health program as well as offering nutritious, yet culturally preferred foods. Accessibility is another common thread between the two organizations. Roughly 50% of the applicants to the Program’s graduate programs are the first in their families to do so.
“We recognize and appreciate what UCI Public Health and the entire campus is doing in Orange County and the entire region,” said Ms. Gonzalez who is also a UCI alumna. “It seemed like a natural partnership working with the future UCI School of Population and Public Health. Public health serves us all and we want to be at the table to discuss how we can move things forward toward a healthier Orange County.”
“One way we can empower the community is through education and we believe that the gift of education is incredibly important. We invest in future leaders who want to improve the community for the better.”
– Ms. Evelyn Gonzalez, MS-RDN, Director of Wellbeing for Northgate
