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St. Pete's first FRESH Pace Healthy Neighborhood Store
For South St. Pete families without an easy ride to a big supermarket, Rajax is where fresh, healthy food is close to home. Here's how it happened, and what our neighbors and the local press have had to say.
The Weekly Challenger · October 25, 2023
“Through our partnership with St. Pete Free Clinic and Rajax Food Mart and Meat Mart, FRESH Pace will expand grocery store options in south St. Pete.”
Press
Local reporters covered the FRESH Pace launch at our store. Here are the highlights, with links to the full stories.
The Weekly Challenger
Read the full story on The Weekly Challenger (opens in a new tab)“After months of preparation, the first FRESH Pace Healthy Neighborhood Store is ready for operation at Rajax Food Mart and Meat Mart… Mayor Ken Welch, City Council Vice-Chair Deborah Figgs-Sanders and representatives from SPFC visited Rajax Food and Meat Mart to congratulate the store manager, Muhamad ‘Mike’ Jaber.”
St Pete Catalyst
· Ashley Morales
Read the full story on St Pete Catalyst (opens in a new tab)“[Rajax] is the perfect location because, if you look for miles around, there is not another grocery store. Especially considering transportation, imagine how long it would take to get a bus to go and get something easily accessible to make healthy dinners with?”
FOX 13 Tampa Bay
· Kailey Tracy
Read the full story on FOX 13 Tampa Bay (opens in a new tab)“He’s already so embedded in the community, is really on the pulse of what our neighbors need, has great relationships, and… we knew this would be a great first opportunity to launch this program.”
Our Story
The FRESH Pace Healthy Neighborhood Store Program is a partnership between the City of St. Petersburg and the St. Pete Free Clinic, funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The goal is simple: bring affordable, healthy food into the neighborhood stores people already walk to.
The need is real. The St. Pete Free Clinic's food pantry went from serving about 6,000 people a month before the pandemic to about 35,000 a month.
Months of preparation
The St. Pete Free Clinic spoke with around 100 neighborhood stores across eight census tracts the city identified as low-income and low-access to nutritious food, listening to owners and building trust.
October 25, 2023
Mayor Ken Welch, Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders and the St. Pete Free Clinic team visited the store to congratulate Mike Jaber as Rajax became the first certified FRESH Pace Healthy Neighborhood Store.
Inside the store
Two brand-new produce coolers and a new display shelf went in, giving us room to show off fresh vegetables and fruit, with recipe cards alongside to help families turn them into healthy meals.
Setting the pace
Rajax was the first of six planned FRESH Pace stores across St. Pete, the start of a program built to grow into more neighborhoods that need it.
In their own words
“A lot of people, they don't have the means to travel to go to the big supermarkets. They don't have the cars or the transportation. Anything that we could do for the community, I'm all in.”
“I love the fresh vegetables and don't want to go to other stores. It's convenient.”
“Through our partnership with St. Pete Free Clinic and Rajax Food Mart and Meat Mart, FRESH Pace will expand grocery store options in south St. Pete while improving access to healthy foods for families in need.”
“It was a big step for us, because they brought us two brand new produce coolers and a shelf that we can display more of the fresh vegetables and the fruits.”
2327 Dr. M.L.K. Jr St S · Open 7 days from 7 AM · SNAP/EBT accepted
