FORMER PRO ATHLETE TURNS ATTENTION AND EXPERIENCE TO PROVIDING HEALTHY LUNCHES TO KIDS

Erin Byrd Hansen has a particularly keen understanding of nutrition. As a lifelong athlete and former professional volleyball player, she knows the importance of properly fuelling your body. A staunch believer that healthy habits are formed in childhood, Hansen launched WT Café, a Wholesome Tummies Brand, serving Greater Columbia in June in order to help parents ensure their children are eating healthy, delicious meals every day at school.

“Helping kids form healthy habits can sound daunting, but it is imperative we instill good nutrition in them from an early age,” she said. “With WT Café we can champion the healthy and yummy movement right here in our communities.”

WT Café contracts with schools to deliver healthy meals to children on a daily basis. Recipes are designed by nutritionists and chefs with the ideal portions and nutritional content for growing children, and include crowd pleasers like pizza, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti & meatballs and chocolate chip pancakes. The team creates two new items each month to keep things interesting. Parents can choose to opt in to the service and place orders for their kids through the WT Café website. There are no long-term contracts and parents can order as many meals each month as they wish, whether it’s one meal or an entire month’s worth. Meals are prepared fresh each morning in a local commercial kitchen, then delivered to schools in time for lunch. Meals can also be prepared on-site if a school has its own kitchen. Plus, unlike many other lunch programs, WT Café allows parents to order just 36 hours in advance for added flexibility, and meals can be cancelled, if needed, as late as 8 a.m. the morning of pickup.

Hansen’s first career was as a collegiate and professional volleyball player. She earned All-American honors for her achievements at the University of Wisconsin, and then played professional indoor volleyball in Puerto Rico and Germany before returning to the U.S. to play professionally on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) professional beach volleyball circuit. She also represented Team USA in international tournaments. During that time she continued to focus on her education and earned her MBA in Entrepreneurial Management. “Volleyball allowed me to travel the world, meet wonderful people, receive two educations and learn valuable lessons about teamwork and dedication,” she said. “Now I’m giving back and encouraging other young athletes to follow their dreams.”

“WT Café allows me to combine my passion for owning a business with my passion for servicing my community,” she explained. “It is a perfect fit for me.”

Hansen will service all of Greater Columbia, including Richland, Lexington, Sumter, Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw and Newberry counties. She is excited not just to bring healthy food to children, but also to help create and maintain jobs and businesses in her community, both in her own hiring of staff and also by sourcing the produce for her meals locally. Her WT Café location will initially focus on Richland and Lexington counties and expand to service the outlying counties as opportunities arise. She sees her business not as a luxury but as a problem-solver and necessity for families today.

“Everyone is watching their budgets, but we don’t hesitate to spend $5 on a latte,” she pointed out. “Our meals are made from scratch every day, individually packaged and delivered to your children. Parents can order as late as 8 a.m. the day of delivery. This is not a luxury, this is the first step to a healthier future for our children.”

Founded in 2007 in Orlando, Fla., Wholesome Tummies launched their healthy school lunch franchise concept, WT Café, in 2010. Since then, Wholesome Tummies has expanded to 23 WT Café locations throughout the country, with plans to reach 50 units by the end of this year. Long-term goals call for 250 locations within the next five years. For more information about Wholesome Tummies, visit http://www.wholesometummies.com.

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