Wendy Howard: Emergency Volunteering

Wendy Howard, RD, LD

 

“I have absolutely loved every aspect of dietetics and all the jobs and paths I’ve traveled in my 25-year career,” says registered dietitian Wendy Howard. After 2005’s Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she joined fellow volunteers from her local church to serve meals in her hometown of Dallas, Texas. They fed up to 100 people each night at a local hotel—mostly to folks who had evacuated New Orleans and whose homes had been completely destroyed.

Howard helped coordinate the meals and menus, working with local restaurants and other businesses to contribute food and other necessities. She also helped several children enroll in a nearby private Christian school. Years later, Howard says she still keeps in touch with some of the people she assisted during that time.

More recently, Howard has been at work on a cookbook with her daughter, Brittany, who is studying nutrition at Texas A&M University. She describes the book as a resource for college students, singles, busy families, seniors and anyone who needs quick and healthy meals. “Dietetics is a very fulfilling and rewarding career,” says Howard. “I’ve enjoyed mentoring young nutrition students to continue their pursuit in this wide-open career where the options are limitless.”

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Food & Nutrition Magazine publishes articles on food and diet trends, highlights of nutrition research and resources, updates on public health issues and policy initiatives related to nutrition, and explorations of the cultural and social factors that shape Americans’ diets and health.